Wix Editor: How to Unpublish Your Wix Site?

If you decide that you don't want your site to be visible to the public anymore, you can unpublish it. Reasons for unpublishing might include doing maintenance, making design changes, or simply not needing the site live. Once unpublished, your site won't be accessible to visitors, but you can still access and edit it. When you're ready, you can publish it again.

This article is written by Slaterock Automation, a 5-star Wix Legend Partner. Get help when you need it!

This article covers:

• How to unpublish your site

• Steps to republish your site

• Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about unpublishing and republishing.

Important: Remember, unpublishing your site won't cancel your registered domain or your Wix Premium plan. If you need to cancel either of these, you can find instructions on how to do so in a different section.

Unpublishing your site

You have the option to unpublish your site, whether for a temporary period or permanently. This can be done directly from the Editor or through your site's dashboard.

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Unpublishing from Wix Editor

To unpublish your site using the Wix Editor, follow these steps:

1. Open your site in the Wix Editor.

2. Click on 'Site' located in the top toolbar.

3. Choose 'Unpublish Site'.

4. In the dashboard window that appears, select 'Unpublish'.

5. A confirmation pop-up will appear; click 'Unpublish' to confirm your decision.

Unpublishing from the Dashboard

To unpublish your site from your site's dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to 'Settings' in your site's dashboard.

2. Click on 'Website settings'.

3. Select 'Unpublish' located at the top of the page.

4. A confirmation pop-up will appear; click on 'Unpublish' to confirm your decision.

Republishing your site

To make your site visible to visitors again, you can easily republish it. Here's how you can do it:

1. Go to the Editor of your site.

2. Click on 'Publish' located at the top right corner.

3. (Optional) If you want to see your live site, click on 'View Site'.

4. Click 'Done' to go back to the Editor.

Note: Keep in mind that if your site was unpublished for an extended period, more than a few days, it could impact your search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.

FAQs

Can I hide my Wix site without unpublishing it?

Indeed, you don't have to fully unpublish your Wix site if you just want to prevent it from appearing in Google searches. You can opt to hide it from search engines instead:

1. Visit 'Search Engine Optimization (SEO)' in your site's dashboard.

2. Click on 'Go to SEO Settings' under the 'Tools and Settings' section.

3. Turn off the 'Let search engines index your site' toggle. This will stop search engines from indexing your site.

4. Click on 'Hide Site'.

Note: Keep in mind that if your site has already been indexed by Google, it may take some time for it to be removed from search results.

If I unpublish my Wix site, what happens to my Premium services?

It's important to note that unpublishing your Wix site does not automatically cancel any Premium services you have. These services will stay active in your account, and you can assign them to a different site if you wish. For guidance on how to do this, you can find information on:

• How to assign a Premium plan to another site in your account.

• How to assign a domain to a different site within your account.

Can I switch my Wix site's template?

At present, you can't switch the template of your existing site directly, but you do have the option to start anew with a different template whenever you want. When you create a new site, you can transfer your Premium services, your media files, and some specific design elements from your old site to the new one.

For more detailed information, you can explore which features can be transferred when you begin with a new template.