How to Password Protect WooCommerce Products [3 Simple Steps]

Are you looking for a way to password protect WooCommerce products? You are in luck today as we are going to show you exactly how to do it using the Password Protected plugin.

According to Statista, in 2023, WooCommerce dominated the e-commerce marketplace with a staggering 39%, while Squarespace and Woo Themes got second and third positions with 14.95% and 14.67%, respectively.

There are many reasons to password protect a product in WooCommerce, whether you want to offer a certain product to VIP members or you need to hide a product for whatever reason. 

In today’s blog post, we will show how to password protect WooCommerce products in three easy sweets using password protected plugin. Using this method, you can also password protect WooCommerce digital products, WordPress pages, and much more.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Why Should You Password Protect WooCommerce Products?

There are several good reasons to keep your WooCommerce products private. You can benefit from restricting access to your WooCommerce products and stores in many ways. Here are some common scenarios:

1. Exclusive Promotions and Discounts

As your number of customers/subscribers grows, you might have exclusive promotions and discounts for a select group of customers. That’s where password protecting WooCommerce products can be beneficial. By creating password protected product pages or categories, you can control access to special offers, limited-time deals, or VIP discounts.

This approach not only incentivizes customer loyalty but also helps in targeting specific segments of your audience with tailored promotions.

2. WooCommerce Private Store (Member-Only)

If your WordPress site has multiple membership levels, you can provide different levels of access to different product types. Higher-level members can view and buy specific products, while lower-level members can only access lower-tier products.

By doing so, you can encourage users to upgrade their membership levels, increase profits, and make customers feel special by offering products according to their membership level.

3. Protect WooCommerce Digital Products Against Sharing

WooCommerce includes options to set download limits and expiry dates for digital assets, but this doesn’t fully secure your products. 

However, users still can access your intellectual property through original URLs, which search engines may index, allowing unauthorized access and downloads without purchase.

So, to prevent this loss of income, it’s crucial to protect your files from direct access using password protection and prevent indexing by search engines, which ensures that only legitimate purchasers have access to the files.

4. Pre-launch and Sneak Peek Products

You can generate excitement and anticipation among the audience by creating password protected WooCommerce products that showcase upcoming releases or exclusive previews. This strategy allows you to build anticipation, gather interest, and evoke a sense of exclusivity around new offerings.

When you offer access only to a select group of customers or subscribers, you develop and cultivate a loyal customer base that feels privileged to be the first to explore and purchase your latest products, which in turn drives more engagement and sales.

3 Easy Steps to Password Protect a Product in WooCommerce

There are many ways to password protect a product in WooCommerce, but the easiest one is to use the Password Protected plugin.

With the Password Protected plugin, you can not only secure WooCommerce products but also the entire WooCommerce store, categories, WooCommerce-specific products, and much more.

To password protect a WooCommerce product with the Password Protected plugin, simply follow the three easy steps below:

Step#1: Install and Activate Password Protected Pro

First, you’ll need the Password Protected Pro version. Here’s how to get it:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
2. Search for “Password Protected” and find “Password Protected – Ultimate Plugin to Password Protect…”
3. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” the plugin.
4. Once activated, navigate to the plugin’s settings screen. Click on the “Get Pro” tab and then “Get Password Protected Pro.”

• You’ll be redirected to the pricing page, where you choose the plan of your choice and complete your order.
• Shortly after, you’ll receive an email with a link to download the Password Protected Pro zip file and your unique license key.

• Now, return to your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
• Upload the “Password-Protected-pro.zip” file and click “Install Now.”

• After installation, activate the plugin and enter your license key to complete the process.

Once you’ve activated the plugin, you’re all set to password protect WooCommerce products.

Step#2: Enable Password Settings in Post Type Protection Tab

Now, it’s time to set up password protection for your WordPress products. You have two options: Individual or Global. Individual protection lets you password protect specific products, while Global protects all WooCommerce products.

To enable password protection follow the steps below:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard and click on “Password Protected” in the menu on the right.
2. Inside the plugin’s settings, navigate to the “Post Type Protection” tab.
3. Check the box for individual product protection if you want to protect specific products only.
4. Click the “Save Changes” button to apply your settings.

NOTE: If you prefer to password protect all WooCommerce products, check the box under the “Global” column instead.

Step#3: Set Password for Your Desired WooCommerce Product

In this final step, you need to add a password to the WooCommerce product you want to protect. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Go back to your WordPress dashboard and head to Products → All Products.
2. Find the product you want to password protect and click “Edit.”

When you are in the product editor page:

3. Scroll down until you find the “Enable Password Protection” option. Check the box.
4. And click “Save Changes” to proceed.

After saving, you’ll see additional fields to configure the password:

• Password: Choose any password you like, but it’s best to use a minimum 8-digit long password for better security.
• Usage Limit: Set how many times the users can use the password. After reaching this limit, the password won’t work anymore.
• Expiry: Choose when the password expires, after which password protection will be removed automatically.
• Status: Keep it as “Activate” for now, but you can change it to “Deactivate” or “Expired” later.

Once you’ve set up the password, click “Save Changes” again to apply the protection. Now, when someone tries to access the protected WooCommerce product on your site, they’ll encounter a password protected screen, as shown below.

That’s it! You’ve now successfully password protected a WooCommerce product.

REMEMBER: If you want to password protect all WooCommerce products, then after selecting the Global option under the Post Type Protection tab. Go to Products → All Products, scroll down, select the “Enable Password Protection” option, and set the password parameters as you did previously for an individual product.

Use Limit Login Feature Against WordPress Brute Force Attack

The Password Protected plugin gives you the ability to secure your password-protected screen by limiting the number of login attempts.

Once you implement the limit login attempts the user will no longer be able to enter password after certain failure attempts, as shown in the screenshot below.

This way, you can easily prevent a WordPress brute force attack and protect your WooCommerce password protected screen from hackers.

Closing Remarks on Password Protect WooCommerce Products

There are dozens of reasons why you should password protect WooCommerce products. With access restrictions, you can limit access to premium items, provide exclusive access to specific VIP customers, and prevent your digital assets from theft.

Above, we’ve outlined three simple steps to password protect WooCommerce products using the Password Protected plugin, and the best part is that by using this plugin, you can also protect the entire WooCommer store, categories, custom post type, exclusive WooCommerce listings, and many more.

Lastly, if you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our support channel.

Thank you for reading, and happy selling!

Frequently Asked Questions