Protected links
Password-protected short links.
Put a password in front of any short link so only the people you share it with can reach the destination. Add an expiry date, pause it at any time, and still see exactly who is clicking.
Create a link here, then add a password and expiry from your dashboard. Password protection and expiry are free on every account.
- Password gate in front of any short link
- Automatic expiry on a date you choose
- Pause or revoke access instantly
- Click analytics still recorded behind the gate
- No account required for the person opening it
- Destination stays hidden until the password is entered
Password gating
Visitors see a simple unlock screen instead of the destination. Nothing about the target URL is revealed until the correct password is entered, so a forwarded link is not an automatic leak.
Expiring links
Set a date after which the link stops resolving. Useful for time-boxed material — pricing, previews, offers — that should not stay reachable indefinitely once the window closes.
Stay in control
Pause, repoint, or delete a protected link at any moment. Access is a setting you can change after the fact, not a decision frozen the moment you hit send.
How to password-protect a link
Three steps from your dashboard, and nothing for the recipient to install or sign up for.
Create the short link
Shorten the destination URL as you normally would — a document, folder, preview build, or private page.
Add a password and expiry
Open the link's settings, set a password, and optionally choose a date for it to expire automatically.
Share the link and password separately
Send the link one way and the password another — email and a message, for example. Sending both in the same place defeats the purpose.
Ways to share something privately
A protected short link is not a replacement for real access control. It fits the large middle ground where account-based permissions are too heavy and an open link is too loose.
| Unlisted link | Password-protected link | |
|---|---|---|
| Works without recipient accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Safe if forwarded | No | Yes |
| Destination hidden before access | No | Yes |
| Revocable after sharing | Only by deleting | Yes |
| Automatic expiry | No | Yes |
| Click analytics | Yes | Yes |
| Per-person permissions | No | No |
| Setup effort | None | Seconds |
When a password on a link is the right tool
Client deliverables
Share proposals, drafts, and pricing with one client without the file becoming reachable by anyone who receives a forward.
Internal documents
Circulate a document to a defined group without provisioning accounts or managing a permissions list.
Time-limited offers
Publish a promotion that stops working on its own when the window closes, with no cleanup task to forget.
Private previews
Give testers or reviewers access to a staging build, then revoke it the moment the review ends.
Course materials
Distribute resources to enrolled students only, with a password you rotate between cohorts.
Sensitive forms
Add a gate in front of an intake form so it is not filled in by anyone who stumbles across the URL.
What password protection does and does not do
Password protection stops a link from working for anyone who does not have the password. That matters most in the ordinary case where a link gets forwarded, pasted into a group chat, or included in a thread with more people than intended.
It is not end-to-end encryption and it is not per-person access control. Everyone who has the password has the same access, and if the password itself is shared widely the gate stops helping. For material that genuinely requires per-user permissions and an audit trail, use a system built for that.
The right mental model is a lock on a door rather than a vault. It is the appropriate level of protection for a large share of everyday business sharing, and it takes seconds rather than an IT request.
Using expiry well
Expiry solves a problem passwords do not: links outliving their purpose. A pricing sheet shared during a negotiation, a preview build sent to a reviewer, a promotion tied to a specific weekend — all of these should stop working at some point, and almost nobody remembers to go back and turn them off.
Setting an expiry at creation time makes that automatic. After the date passes, the link stops resolving and visitors get an explanatory page rather than the destination.
Combining both is the strongest everyday pattern: a password limits who can open it now, and an expiry limits how long that remains true.
Sharing the password safely
Send the link and the password through different channels. Emailing both together means a single compromised or forwarded inbox exposes everything, which puts you back where you started.
Use a distinct password per audience rather than one reused across clients or cohorts, so revoking access for one group does not disturb the others.
When someone leaves the group, change the password or expire the link. Access granted once should not quietly persist forever.
Password-protected links FAQ
How does a password-protected short link work?
Instead of redirecting straight to the destination, the link shows an unlock screen. Once the correct password is entered, the visitor continues to the destination. The target URL is never revealed beforehand.
Does the recipient need an account?
No. They only need the link and the password. There is nothing to sign up for or install.
Can I set an expiry date as well?
Yes. Add an expiry so the link stops resolving after a date you choose. Password and expiry can be used together or independently.
Can I revoke access after sharing?
Yes. Pause or delete the link, or change its password, and previously shared copies stop working immediately.
Do protected links still record analytics?
Yes. Clicks, location, device, and referrer are recorded exactly as they are for standard links.
Is this the same as encryption?
No. It is an access gate on the link, not encryption of the destination content. For material requiring per-user permissions or an audit trail, use a system designed for that.
What happens when someone enters the wrong password?
They stay on the unlock screen and can try again. The destination is not disclosed at any point.
Is password protection free?
Yes. Password protection and link expiry are free, along with shortening, QR codes, and click analytics.
Private sharing
Lock your links with a password.
Add a password, set an expiry, and revoke access whenever you need to — while still seeing every click behind the gate.