How-to's · Wix & site builders · 3 min read
How to Unpublish a Wix Site
Short answer
In your Wix dashboard, go to Settings, open Website settings and click Unpublish, then confirm. The site goes offline immediately, but your premium plan and domain keep billing until you cancel them separately. To bring it back, open the editor and click Publish.
Unpublishing takes your Wix site offline without deleting it. Your design, pages and content stay in your account, ready to go live again whenever you want. It's useful during a rebrand, when you're pausing a business or when a site went live before it was ready.
How to unpublish
- Log in to Wix and open the site's dashboard.
- Click Settings in the left sidebar.
- Under General, open Website settings.
- Click Unpublish at the top of the page.
- Confirm by clicking Unpublish again in the pop-up.
Visitors to your domain will now see a Wix notice rather than your site. Wix's interface changes from time to time, so if the button has moved, look for "Site actions" or the three-dot menu near your site name in the dashboard.
What happens to billing
This catches many people out: unpublishing does not cancel anything. Your premium plan and any domain or mailbox subscriptions keep charging. If the goal is to stop paying:
- Go to your Wix account > Subscriptions (or Billing & Payments).
- Cancel the premium plan, or turn off auto-renew.
- Decide what to do with the domain (see below).
Check Wix's refund policy before cancelling, since eligibility depends on how long ago you bought the plan.
What happens to your domain
If your domain is connected to the site, it keeps pointing at Wix but shows no content. Options:
- Keep it if you plan to come back.
- Connect it to a different site in your Wix account.
- Transfer it to another registrar if you're leaving Wix. Do this before the plan expires so you don't lose it.
Hiding a single page instead
Often you don't need the whole site offline. To hide one page:
- Remove it from the menu: In the editor, open the Pages panel and hide the page from navigation. It's still reachable by URL.
- Set page permissions: Make it members-only or password protected.
- Exclude it from search: Turn off "Let search engines index this page" in the page's SEO settings.
- Delete it: If you're done with it. Consider redirecting the URL to a relevant page with Wix's URL redirect manager so links don't break.
Unpublish vs delete vs password protect
| Goal | Best option |
|---|---|
| Take a break, come back later | Unpublish |
| Working on a redesign while live | Duplicate the site and edit the copy; publish when ready |
| Private site for a team or client | Password protect or members-only pages |
| Never coming back | Cancel plan, transfer domain, then move the site to trash |
Republishing
Open the site in the editor and click Publish in the top right corner. The site goes live again on your connected domain. If you cancelled your premium plan, the site will publish on a free Wix address with Wix branding until you buy a new plan.
Tell visitors
If you can, post a short notice on social profiles before unpublishing, so returning visitors know you're coming back.
Before you unpublish an online store
If you sell through Wix, check:
- No open orders are waiting for fulfillment.
- Customers with subscriptions or bookings are notified.
- Gift card balances and store credit are honored according to your local laws.
Pausing a business is normal. If you're reconsidering your platform entirely, read our Wix ecommerce pros and cons and what you need to know about Wix premium plans. If you published too early and just want to make changes, you might not need to unpublish at all. See can you edit a Wix site after publishing.
Frequently asked questions
Does unpublishing a Wix site cancel my plan?
No. Premium plans and domain subscriptions continue to charge while the site is unpublished. Cancel them in your Wix account if you want billing to stop.
Can I unpublish just one page on Wix?
Wix doesn't unpublish single pages from the dashboard in the same way. You can hide a page from the menu, set it to members-only or password protect it, or delete it.
Will unpublishing hurt my SEO?
Yes, if it's offline for long. Search engines will eventually drop pages they can't reach. For short maintenance, a password-protected page or a maintenance notice is gentler.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.