What do the three gallery privacy settings mean?
Public is open to anyone with the link, protected asks for the access code, and private opens only for you, your moderators and guests who have joined.
On the Sharing tab you choose one of three, and it applies to the gallery, the mission list, the leaderboard and the slideshow alike.
- Public — anyone with the link can view. Guests can still join and upload without a code. This is the setting that lets a gallery be shared onward, and the one to use if you want it findable.
- Protected with access code — anyone with the link is asked for the event access code before they see anything. The right choice for most private occasions: easy to give out on a table card, but not something a stranger can stumble into.
- Private — only you, the moderators you invited and guests who have joined the event with its access code can open it; the link on its own shows nothing. Inside, it works like any other gallery: each photo follows the guest’s own choice on the upload screen, so one they kept “just for the hosts” stays out of it unless you choose to show it.
You can change the setting at any time and it takes effect on the next request. Tightening it hides the gallery from people who already had the link.
Private is genuinely private
It is not “unlisted”. Without the event’s access code there is no link and no trick that opens a private gallery — the refusal happens on the server on every request, not by hiding a button. Photos inside are not locked away from your guests, though: anyone who has joined sees every photo their fellow guests chose to share.
For a funeral or a memorial, where the family may want the photos kept private, see funeral and memorial photo sharing.