How to Make a Facebook Page Unpublished

Need to hide your Facebook Page from the public eye for a bit? Unpublishing gives you a temporary off switch, and learning how to use it is a must-have skill for any Page manager. This guide walks you through exactly how to unpublish your Page with current, step-by-step instructions, explains why it's a better choice than deleting, and shows you how to bring it back online whenever you're ready.

Why Unpublish a Facebook Page Instead of Deleting It?

Before jumping into the "how," it's important to understand the fundamental difference between unpublishing and deleting your Facebook Page. They sound similar, but their consequences are worlds apart. One gives you a safety net, the other is a permanent decision you can't walk back.

Unpublishing: The Reversible "Off Switch"

Think of unpublishing as putting your Facebook Page into a private, admin-only mode. When you unpublish a Page:

• It becomes invisible to the public. No one can find it in search, visit its URL, or see its old posts appear in their feed. For all intents and purposes, it has vanished from public view.
• You lose nothing. All of your content - every post, photo, video, and comment - remains intact. Your hard-earned followers, likes, and Page history are all preserved safely on Facebook's servers.
• Admins retain full access. You and other Page managers can still see the Page, access the backend, edit existing content, schedule new posts, and review insights. It becomes a private staging area.
• It's 100% reversible. You can republish your Page at any time with a single click, and it will reappear instantly, exactly as you left it.

Unpublishing is the ideal solution for temporary situations where you need to take the Page offline without sacrificing the community and content you've built.

Deleting: The Point of No Return

Deleting a Facebook Page is exactly what it sounds like: total and permanent removal. While Facebook gives you a 30-day grace period to change your mind, once that window closes, the deletion is final. Everything is gone forever:

• All posts, photos, videos, and Stories.
• All followers and likes.
• All Page messages and associated data.
• The Page name and URL cannot be recovered.

You should only ever delete a Page if you are absolutely certain you will never need it again. For almost every other scenario, unpublishing is the safer, smarter choice.

Common Scenarios for Unpublishing Your Page

Why might you need to temporarily hide your Page? It happens more often than you think. Businesses and creators often unpublish a Page when:

• Undergoing a Rebrand: If you're redesigning your logo, changing your business name, or completely overhauling your brand identity, you may want to work on the Page privately until the new look is ready for a grand reveal.
• Dealing with a PR Crisis: If your Page is being flooded with negative comments or you need to pause communications to manage a sensitive situation, unpublishing gives you the space to strategize without the added pressure of a live audience.
• Preparing for a Major Launch: Sometimes, hiding your page can build anticipation before a new product drop or company launch. You can prepare all the content behind the scenes and then republish when you're ready to go live.
• Taking an Extended Break: A small business owner taking a long vacation or a creator going on hiatus may want to unpublish their Page to avoid giving the impression that they've gone out of business. It sets a clear "we'll be back" boundary.
• Making Significant Updates: If you need to perform a major content audit, clean up old posts, or rethink your entire content strategy, unpublishing allows you to do that work without confusing your audience with live changes.
• Regulatory or Compliance Reviews: In some industries like finance or healthcare, a brand's social media content may need to undergo a review. Unpublishing the page during this process removes any risk of non-compliant content being available to the public.

How to Make a Facebook Page Unpublished: Step-by-Step Guide

Facebook has updated its layout over the years, and finding the option to unpublish a Page isn't as straightforward as it used to be. The term "unpublish" has even been replaced with "deactivate." Follow these current steps for the New Pages Experience to hide your Page.

Step 1: Switch to Your Page Profile

First, make sure you are interacting as the Page you want to manage. If you're on your personal profile, click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Facebook. A menu will appear. Click on "See all profiles" and select the correct Page from the list. The interface will refresh, and you'll now be acting as your Page.

Step 2: Navigate to Page Settings

Once you are on your Page's feed, click on your Page's profile picture in the top-right corner again. From the dropdown menu that appears, click on Settings & privacy, and then select Settings.

Step 3: Access Privacy Information

You are now in your Page's main settings dashboard. In the left-hand navigation menu, click on Privacy. After that, select Facebook Page information from the options shown.

Step 4: Find the Deactivation and Deletion Menu

In the "Facebook Page information" section, you will see a list of actions you can take. Ignore the others for now and look for the row labeled Deactivation and deletion. On the far right of this row, click View.

Step 5: Choose to Deactivate Your Page

This next screen is the most important one. Facebook will present you with two options: "Deactivate Page" or "Delete Page."

• Deactivate Page: This is the new "Unpublish." This option is temporary. Your Page will be hidden, but all your content and followers are saved.
• Delete Page: This option is permanent.

Make sure the "Deactivate Page" radio button is selected and click the blue Continue button.

Step 6: Confirm Your Identity and Deactivate

For security purposes, Facebook will prompt you to enter your personal profile's password to confirm you have the authority to make this change. Enter your password and click Continue. You may also be asked to provide a reason for deactivating, select any option and complete the process by clicking the final Deactivate button.

That's it! Your Page is now unpublished and hidden from public view. Only Page admins can see it.

What Happens After You Unpublish Your Page?

Once you hit that "Deactivate" button, here’s a quick rundown of what to expect:

• Public Invisibility: Your Page is completely hidden from non-admins. It won't appear in search results, and anyone with a direct link will see an error message.
• Full Admin Access: As an admin, you can see and interact with the Page as you normally would. You can write new posts (which will be saved as drafts), reorganize photo albums, or revamp your "About" section.
• Likes and Followers Are Safe: Your existing audience count is preserved. The moment you republish, all those followers will once again be connected to your Page.
• Active Ads Are Paused: Any running Facebook or Instagram ad campaigns linked to your Page will be automatically stopped to prevent you from paying for ads that lead to a hidden Page.
• Tagging is Disabled: Other users or pages will not be able to tag your Page in posts or photos while it is unpublished.

How to Republish Your Facebook Page

Bringing your Page back online is even simpler than taking it down. Since you're already familiar with the path, this will take just a few seconds.

1. Switch to Your Page & Go to Settings: Just like before, ensure you're interacting as your Page and navigate to Settings & privacy > Settings.
2. Return to Privacy Settings: In the left menu, go to Privacy > Facebook Page information.
3. Reactivate Your Page: Instead of "Deactivation and deletion," you'll now see a more prominent option at the top of this section to Reactivate your Page. Click the "Reactivate" button next to your Page's name.

Your Page will be republished immediately. It will be public again, searchable, and all of its content will be visible to your followers and the world.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

I can't find the "unpublish" button! Where did it go?

This is the most common confusion. With the "New Pages Experience," Facebook has retired the term "unpublish" in its settings menus. The function you are looking for is now called "Deactivate Page." It achieves the exact same goal: temporarily hiding your Page without deleting any content. If you're following an older guide, this is the change you need to be aware of.

Will I lose my followers or likes if I unpublish my Page?

No, absolutely not. Every follower, like, and piece of content is securely saved. This is the primary benefit of unpublishing instead of deleting. Your entire history will be restored the moment you choose to republish.

How long can my Page remain unpublished?

Indefinitely. Facebook does not have a time limit for how long a Page can remain unpublished (or deactivated). You can keep it hidden for days, weeks, months, or even years, and it will be waiting for you whenever you’re ready to bring it back.

What happens if third-party tools are scheduled to post to my unpublished Page?

Most reputable social media scheduling tools will receive an error when they attempt to publish a post to an unpublished Page, as the platform's API will report that the target destination is unavailable. The posts will fail to go live. As a best practice, you should always pause your publishing schedule in your third-party tools before you unpublish your Facebook Page to avoid a stream of failed-post notifications.

Final Thoughts

Unpublishing your Facebook Page is a powerful, temporary measure that gives you complete control over its visibility without losing any of your hard-earned content or followers. Knowing how to correctly deactivate and reactivate your Page is an essential "back-pocket" skill for anyone managing a brand presence online.

Temporarily taking a Page offline is the perfect time to plan your content strategy for its big return. We find our visual calendar at Postbase is ideal for this, as you can build a massive backlog of high-quality content, see your entire schedule at a glance, and rearrange posts with a simple drag-and-drop. That way, the moment you decide to reactivate your Page, you're ready with a full calendar of content prepared to go live.