When you first create your site using the Hostinger Website Builder, it will not go live until you publish it. However, the opposite process, unpublishing an already live website, requires a different approach. Here are a few alternative methods to hide your website from public view 👇
Option 1 – Publish the landing page only (recommended)
Create a landing page (e.g., “Coming soon”), make it the homepage, and hide the rest of your web pages you're still working on.
For more detailed instructions, please refer here: Website Builder: How to create a landing page.
Option 2 – Change the domain
Change the domain connected to your website: replace your actual domain name with another one until you're ready to publish your website on the actual domain again.
There's no need to purchase an extra domain for this because you may use a subdomain. For instance, if your site is currently published on domain.com, you may change it to maintenance.domain.com, coming-soon.domain.com, in-progress.domain.com or similar.
To do so, follow these steps: Website Builder: How to Change a Domain,
Once you're ready to publish the site on the actual domain name, use the same procedure.
Option 3 – Duplicate and delete the original
If you delete your published website, it will go offline. Only make sure to duplicate it before deleting:
Your duplicated website will remain unpublished as long as you don't click on Go live in the top-right of the builder.
Keep in mind that backups are created only when a website is published 💡