HOW TO UNPUBLISH A WIX SITE

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and offer an easy process for How to Unpublish Wix Site so you can hide your site temporarily or pause projects without deleting them.

Unpublishing your Wix site removes it from the internet, meaning visitors can no longer access it through your domain or the Wix preview link. However, your website’s content remains saved in your Wix account. You can republish it at any time with just a few clicks.

This is useful if you’re updating your design, rebranding, or working on a new version of your site but want to preserve your existing work privately.

Unpublishing vs Deleting a Wix Site

It’s important to understand the difference between unpublishing and deleting:

  • Unpublishing makes your site invisible to the public, but it remains saved in your Wix dashboard. You can edit and republish it later.

  • Deleting permanently removes your site and its content from Wix. Once deleted, it cannot be restored.

Unpublishing is therefore the safer option if you may want to relaunch or reuse your website in the future.

How to Unpublish a Wix Site

Wix makes it simple to unpublish your website through your dashboard. Follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Wix account
    Go to the Wix website and sign in using the email and password associated with your account.

  2. Access your site dashboard
    From the main menu, click “My Sites” and select the site you want to unpublish. This will open the site’s management dashboard.

  3. Go to Site Actions
    In the left-hand menu, select “Settings.” Then scroll down until you find the “Site Actions” section.

  4. Click Unpublish
    You’ll see an option labelled “Unpublish Site.” Click it, and Wix will ask you to confirm your decision. Once confirmed, your site will go offline immediately.

  5. Confirm the unpublish action
    After confirmation, Wix will display a message confirming that your site has been unpublished. You can return to your dashboard and see that your site is no longer marked as live.

Your website will now be inaccessible to visitors, although all content and settings remain intact for future editing or relaunching.

How to Republish Your Wix Site

If you decide to make your site live again, the process is just as easy.

  1. Log back into your Wix account.

  2. Open your site in the Editor.

  3. Click the “Publish” button in the top right corner.

Your site will be republished instantly, and any recent edits will appear online.

Reasons You Might Want to Unpublish a Wix Site

There are several situations where unpublishing can be useful:

  • Website redesign or rebranding – You might want to take your site offline while you update its design or change business information.

  • Seasonal business closures – Temporary businesses or event-based sites may choose to unpublish during off-seasons.

  • Domain or hosting changes – If you’re switching to a new platform or moving domains, unpublishing ensures your audience doesn’t access outdated information.

  • Business closure – If your business is shutting down, unpublishing allows you to remove your site without deleting it permanently.

How to Unpublish a Wix Site on Mobile

If you’re using the Wix mobile app, you can also unpublish your site from your phone:

  1. Open the Wix app and sign in.

  2. Tap the site you want to manage.

  3. Go to “Settings.”

  4. Tap “Site Actions.”

  5. Select “Unpublish Site” and confirm.

This is helpful if you need to take your website offline quickly without accessing a computer.

What Happens to Your Domain After Unpublishing

If you have a custom domain connected to your Wix site, unpublishing does not affect domain ownership. Your domain remains active and linked to your Wix account, but it will no longer display your website.

You can still manage the domain through Wix or transfer it to another provider if you plan to host your site elsewhere.

If visitors try to access your domain while the site is unpublished, they’ll see an error or “site not found” message.

How to Temporarily Hide Specific Pages Instead

If you don’t want to unpublish the entire site, Wix allows you to hide individual pages instead. This is useful if only certain sections of your site are being updated.

To hide a page:

  1. Open the Wix Editor.

  2. Click “Menus & Pages.”

  3. Select the page you want to hide.

  4. Click the three dots beside the page name.

  5. Select “Hide from menu” or set it to private.

This allows you to continue editing privately without affecting the rest of your site.

Important Considerations Before Unpublishing

Before taking your site offline, think about how it may impact your business or SEO.

  • SEO impact: When your site is unpublished, Google can no longer crawl or display your pages in search results. If you plan to relaunch soon, this isn’t a major issue, but extended downtime can affect your rankings.

  • User access: Customers or clients will not be able to access your content or contact forms. Consider setting up temporary redirect messages or contact options.

  • Backups: Although Wix saves your content automatically, it’s a good idea to export important text or media in case you need it later.

If your goal is to pause your online presence without damaging SEO, consider keeping a simple “coming soon” or “under maintenance” page published instead.

How to Delete Your Wix Site Permanently

If you’re sure you no longer need your Wix site, you can delete it entirely:

  1. Go to your Wix dashboard.

  2. Click “Site Actions.”

  3. Select “Move to Trash.”

  4. Confirm the deletion.

Once deleted, your site is moved to the Trash folder, where you can restore it for up to 30 days. After that, it’s permanently removed.

Only delete your site if you’re certain you won’t need the content again.

Final Thoughts

Unpublishing your Wix site is a quick and reversible process that gives you full control over when your website is visible online. Whether you’re making updates, rebranding, or closing temporarily, Wix allows you to take your site offline without losing your content or design.

Always consider how unpublishing might affect visitors and search rankings, and make sure you have a plan for relaunching or redirecting users if needed.

At Lillian Purge, we help businesses manage every part of their online strategy from website design to SEO performance ensuring your brand remains professional and visible, whether your site is live or offline.

We have also written in depth articles on How to Delete Website From Wix and Is Wix Free? as well as our Wix Hub to give you further guidance.