# Publish your help center

_Category: Getting started_

New help centers start unpublished, so you can set yours up before anyone sees it. When you're ready for customers, publish it: anyone can then find and read your published articles.

**Who can do this:** Owners and Admins · **Plans:** All plans

## Before you start

Two things come first, both on the account owner's side:

- **A verified email address.** Until it's verified, the **Publishing** card shows a **Confirm your email address** notice and the **Publish help center** button is locked. Open the verification email we sent when you signed up and click its link, or get a new one from **Account Settings** with **Resend**.
- **An activated plan.** Publishing is available once the owner activates a subscription. Until then, the card shows **Publish when you activate your plan**, with an **Activate your plan** button. You can activate during the free trial without losing the days you have left, so nothing is charged before the trial ends. See [Choose a plan and start your subscription](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/activate-your-subscription).

Until then, you can keep building and preview every page while signed in with **Preview it as your team sees it**. If you're an Admin, the card reads **Publishing unlocks when the account owner activates a plan**: ask the owner to activate it.

## Publish it

1. In the left menu, click the gear icon, then **Settings**.
2. In the **Publishing** card at the top, click **Publish help center**.
3. In **Publish your help center?**, click **Publish**.

![Screen recording. New help centers start Not published: only your team can see them. Click Publish help center. Confirm with Publish. It is Published: anyone can read it now.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/LESDRFG9sIGsfDOUQMBZgyfDPSc8G7mtvaPJuAfe.gif)
Publishing waits for you: until then, only your team can see it.

You see "Your help center is published. Anyone can read it now." The card's badge changes from **Not published** to **Published**, and **View help center** opens it.

The **Publishing** card shows only while **Access & visibility** is set to **Public**, which is how new help centers start. If yours is Private or Password, choose **Public** in the **General** card and click **Save changes** first. Saving doesn't publish it.

## What changes when you publish

- Anyone can open your help center and read your published articles without signing in.
- Drafts, private articles and private categories stay hidden from readers.
- Search engines can list your help center, because **Search engine indexing** is on by default. It's in the **General** card. See [Hide your help center from search engines](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/hide-from-search-engines).
- Readers can connect your help center to their own AI assistant through its public MCP server, which is on by default. See [Let readers use your help center in their AI assistant](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/public-mcp-server).

Before you publish, visitors see a "This help center isn't published yet" page and search engines stay away. Your team sees every page while signed in, with a **Not published yet** banner at the top.

## Unpublish it

In the **Publishing** card, click **Unpublish**, then **Unpublish** again to confirm. Visitors see the "not published yet" page again, links to it stop working, and only your team can read it until you publish it again.

## Other ways to share it

| Option | Who can read it | Good for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Public** | Anyone on the internet, once you publish it. | Help for your customers. |
| **Private** | People you invite to your team, in any role. They sign in with HelpCenter.io. | Internal knowledge bases. |
| **Password** | Anyone who has the password you set under **Access password**. | A small group who don't have HelpCenter.io accounts. |

Private and Password work on every plan and don't need publishing. See [Control who can see your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/who-can-see-your-help-center) for every option, including single sign-on and IP restrictions.

## Troubleshooting

**The Publish help center button is locked.** The owner's email isn't verified, or their plan isn't activated yet. The notice in the card says which one. See **Before you start** above.

**You don't see the Publishing card.** Your help center is Private or Password. Choose **Public** under **Access & visibility** and save.

**Visitors see "This help center isn't published yet".** Click **Publish help center** in the **Publishing** card.

## Related articles

- [Control who can see your help center](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/who-can-see-your-help-center)
- [Use your own domain](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/custom-domain)
- [Set up your help center: a first-hour checklist](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/set-up-your-help-center)