Setting Up Password Protection for Your Store – SHOPLINE Help Center

SHOPLINE’s Password protection feature allows you to restrict storefront access by requiring visitors to enter a password before viewing your store.

When your store is not linked to a custom domain, SHOPLINE automatically enables password protection and does not allow it to be disabled. To manually manage password protection settings, you must first link a custom domain and set it as the primary domain.

This guide explains how to enable or disable password protection and manage the storefront access experience for visitors.

Note: For stores during the trial period, linking a custom domain is unavailable. To enable domain linking and manually disable password protection, you must first purchase a paid plan.

Understanding Store Password Protection

When password protection is enabled, visitors must enter the correct password before accessing your storefront.

This feature is commonly used when:

Preparing a storefront before launch
Running private campaigns or exclusive events
Performing storefront testing or maintenance
Limiting access to internal teams or selected customers

After enabling this feature:

Visitors will see a password verification page before entering the storefront
Only visitors with the correct password can access storefront content
Search engine crawlers may be unable to access storefront pages

Setting Up Store Password Protection

Password protection settings are available only for stores with:

A paid SHOPLINE plan
A linked custom domain

Notes:

For instructions on purchasing a paid plan, refer to the "SHOPLINE Pricing Plans" article.
Password protection is automatically disabled after a custom domain is successfully linked and set as the primary domain. For instructions on linking a custom domain, refer to "Connecting a Custom Domain to SHOPLINE."

Once your store meets these requirements, you can enable or disable password protection using the following steps.

Enabling Store Password Protection

From your SHOPLINE admin, go to Online Store > Preferences, then locate the Password protection section.
Enable Password protection.

Note: When your store is not connected to a custom domain, SHOPLINE automatically enables password protection and does not allow it to be disabled.
Enter:
- Your preferred storefront password
- A custom message displayed to visitors on the password page
Click Update to save the changes.

Once enabled, visitors must enter the configured password before accessing the storefront.

Disabling Store Password Protection

From your SHOPLINE admin, go to Online Store > Preferences, then locate the Password protection section.
Disable Password protection.
Click Update.

Password protection will then be removed from the storefront.

Accessing a Password-Protected Storefront

Frontend Experience

When password protection is enabled, visitors must enter the configured password before accessing the storefront.

The custom message configured in the password protection settings will also appear on the password entry page.

Backend Preview Experience

When customizing your storefront in the Theme Editor, merchants can continue previewing storefront changes normally even if password protection is enabled.

Within the Theme Editor preview, the following information will also be displayed:

The currently configured storefront password
A shortcut for disabling password protection

Important Notes for Store Password Protection

Password-protected storefront pages may not be accessible to search engine crawlers.
Enabling password protection may affect storefront SEO visibility and indexing.
Customers must enter the correct password before accessing the storefront.
Password protection should typically be disabled after storefront launch if public access is required.

Frequently Asked Questions About Store Password Protection

Q1: Why can’t I disable password protection?

Password protection cannot be disabled if:

Your store is still using the default SHOPLINE domain
Your store is currently in the trial period

To manually disable password protection, you must:

Purchase a paid plan
Link a custom domain
Set the custom domain as the primary domain

Q2: Why can’t customers access my storefront?

Your storefront may have password protection enabled. Visitors must enter the correct password before accessing the storefront.

You can review the settings in: Online Store > Preferences > Password protection.

Q3: Does password protection affect SEO?

Yes. Password-protected storefront pages may not be accessible to search engine crawlers, which can affect storefront indexing and SEO visibility.

Q4: Can I change the storefront password later?

Yes. You can update the storefront password and storefront message at any time from the Password protection settings.