Family photos
Baby photos for the grandparents, school plays for the relatives. Not for search engines or social feeds.
Private photo sharing: Share photos only with the people you invite.
Make a gallery private, add your viewers’ email addresses, and send them the link. They sign in with that address to see the photos. Remove someone, and their access ends.
Included in Pro · Try it free for 7 days, no credit card
Three ways to share
Public, unlisted or private. Pick per gallery.
Most people use more than one: a public portfolio, an unlisted trip for friends, a private gallery for the kids’ photos.
| Feature | Public | Unlisted | Private |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can view | Anyone | Anyone with the link | You and the email addresses you add |
| Listed on your public profile | Yes | No | No |
| Viewers need to sign in | No | No | Yes, with the invited email |
| A forwarded link works for anyone | Yes | Yes | No |
| Remove one person’s access | No | No | Yes |
| Included in | All plans | All plans | Pro and the free trial |
How it works
Five steps, all in the gallery settings.
- 01
Choose “Private”
In the gallery settings, pick Private (invited people) as the access mode.
- 02
Add email addresses
Add the people who should see it. Adding someone gives view access, not editing.
- 03
Publish and send the link
Share the gallery link with them the way you normally would.
- 04
They sign in to view
Viewers sign in with the email address you added. Other accounts are refused.
- 05
Remove access any time
Take an address off the list and that person can no longer open the gallery.
What private means here
What it protects, and what it can’t.
Private galleries are protected by sign-in and access checks on our servers. They are not end-to-end encrypted.
- Every photo is checked, not just the page
- The gallery page and each photo and video file are checked against your list. A copied image address doesn’t open for someone who isn’t on it.
- Removing someone applies right away
- After you remove an address, new requests from that account are refused, including for images it opened before.
- Going private closes old public links
- If a gallery was public and you republish it as private, its earlier public page and image links stop working.
- What it can’t undo
- Access control can’t recall photos someone already downloaded, saved or screenshotted. Invite people you trust with the photos.
Who uses it
For photos that aren’t meant for everyone.
Client galleries
Deliver a shoot to the client and their team. Add their addresses, and remove them when the project ends.
Events and trips
One gallery for the wedding guests or the group that went on the trip, without posting it publicly.
Sorting hundreds of family photos first? The AI photo organizer can group them by day or place before you share. Want to strip location data from a few files you send directly? Use the free metadata remover.
Public and unlisted galleries can be viewed without an account. For an invite-only private gallery, viewers need to sign in with the verified email address you invited.
No. Having the gallery link alone does not grant access. The viewer must sign in with an email address on your list.
Yes. Change the access mode and publish again; earlier public and unlisted links stop working once the gallery is private. Galleries created before private galleries were available may need their photos uploaded again first.
No. Private galleries are protected by sign-in and access checks on our servers, not end-to-end encryption. Simple Photo Gallery processes your photos to create the gallery images.
Only if you connect one and grant it access to your galleries. It then acts on your behalf and can read private galleries and photos within the permissions you grant. You can disconnect it at any time in your account settings.
Invite-only private galleries are part of the Pro plan, and you can try them during the 7-day free trial. Public and unlisted galleries are available on every plan.
Make your next gallery invite-only.
Create it, add the people who should see it, and send the link.
Free for 7 days · No credit card