# Choose who can read an article

_Category: Organize and publish_

Every article has its own access setting. Keep an article out of navigation and search and share it with a secret link, or limit it to a few teammates, while the rest of your help center stays as it is.

**Who can do this:** Owners, Admins and Editors

## Change who can read an article

1. Open the article from **Articles**.
2. In the **Access** card on the right, choose **Public**, **Anyone with the link** or **Private**.
3. For **Anyone with the link**, click **Copy link** and share the link.
4. Click **Update** to apply the change to a live article.

![Screen recording. In Access, choose who can open the article. Anyone with the link: hidden from browsing and search. Copy the secret link and share it. Click Update to apply the change.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/yjC3ef8xpuvmjxBhWsQpOuriAM7X63H16lS0vDTt.gif)
The secret link opens the article even though it's hidden from browsing.

On a draft, the setting takes effect when you publish. On help centers that use staged changes, a change to a live article's access goes live when you click **Publish changes**.

## The access options

| Option | Who can open it | Listed and searchable |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Public** | Anyone who can read your help center. This is the default. | Yes |
| **Anyone with the link** | Anyone who has the secret link. It's the article's address with `?share=` and a code at the end. | No |
| **Private** | The article's author and the teammates you pick, while they're signed in to HelpCenter.io. | No |

## Share a private article with teammates

1. With **Private** selected, find **Who has access** in the **Access** card.
2. Pick a teammate and click **Share**. Repeat for each person.
3. Click **Update**, or save the draft.

To remove someone, click the × next to their name. The line under the list tells you how many people can open the article.

## Good to know

- A private article is hidden from everyone else on your team too, Owners and Admins included, in the dashboard as well as on your help center.
- Switching an article from **Anyone with the link** to **Private** stops its secret link from working.
- The article's category still applies. A public article in a category that isn't shared with everybody is only visible to the people who can see that category. See [Make a category private](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/private-categories).
- On the **Articles** page, the **Private** tab lists both private and link-only articles.
- Translators can see who has access but can't change it.

To make your whole help center private or password-protected, see [Control who can see your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/who-can-see-your-help-center).

## Troubleshooting

**Someone can't open the article.** Check the article's access, its category and your help center's visibility. See [Someone can't see an article or the help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/cant-see-an-article).

## Related articles

- [Make a category private](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/private-categories)
- [Control who can see your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/who-can-see-your-help-center)
- [Someone can't see an article or the help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/cant-see-an-article)