2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
---
2020-10-30 21:08:52 +00:00
stage: none
group: unassigned
2020-11-26 06:09:20 +00:00
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
type: reference
---
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
# Public access
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2019-09-30 00:06:04 +00:00
GitLab allows [Owners ](../user/permissions.md ) to set a project's visibility as **public** , **internal** ,
2019-06-10 01:05:06 +00:00
or **private** . These visibility levels affect who can see the project in the
2019-08-22 08:50:31 +00:00
public access directory (`/public` under your GitLab instance), like at < https: / / gitlab . com / public >
2014-02-13 10:55:46 +00:00
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
## Visibility of projects
### Public projects
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2019-09-30 00:06:04 +00:00
Public projects can be cloned **without any** authentication over HTTPS.
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
They are listed in the public access directory (`/public`) for all users.
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
**Any logged in user** has [Guest permissions ](../user/permissions.md )
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
on the repository.
2014-02-13 10:55:46 +00:00
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
### Internal projects
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2020-10-30 15:08:59 +00:00
Internal projects can be cloned by any logged in user except [external users ](../user/permissions.md#external-users ).
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
They are also listed in the public access directory (`/public`), but only for logged
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
in users.
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
Any logged in users except [external users ](../user/permissions.md#external-users ) have [Guest permissions ](../user/permissions.md )
2016-06-26 03:43:10 +00:00
on the repository.
2014-02-13 10:55:46 +00:00
2020-12-04 21:09:29 +00:00
NOTE:
2019-07-03 01:41:50 +00:00
From July 2019, the `Internal` visibility setting is disabled for new projects, groups,
and snippets on GitLab.com. Existing projects, groups, and snippets using the `Internal`
visibility setting keep this setting. You can read more about the change in the
2020-05-21 03:08:00 +00:00
[relevant issue ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/12388 ).
2019-07-03 01:41:50 +00:00
2018-07-09 10:48:18 +00:00
### Private projects
2019-07-29 21:03:28 +00:00
Private projects can only be cloned and viewed by project members (except for guests).
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
They appear in the public access directory (`/public`) for project members only.
2018-07-09 10:48:18 +00:00
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
### How to change project visibility
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2019-09-30 00:06:04 +00:00
1. Go to your project's **Settings** .
1. Change **Visibility Level** to either Public, Internal, or Private.
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
2016-03-22 10:36:43 +00:00
## Visibility of groups
2020-12-04 21:09:29 +00:00
NOTE:
2020-02-06 15:09:11 +00:00
[Starting with ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/3323 ) GitLab 8.6,
2019-06-12 05:47:06 +00:00
the group visibility has changed and can be configured the same way as projects.
In previous versions, a group's page was always visible to all users.
2016-03-22 10:36:43 +00:00
Like with projects, the visibility of a group can be set to dictate whether
anonymous users, all signed in users, or only explicit group members can view
it. The restriction for visibility levels on the application setting level also
2020-11-19 21:09:07 +00:00
applies to groups, so if that's set to internal, the explore page is empty
2016-03-22 10:36:43 +00:00
for anonymous users. The group page now has a visibility level icon.
2020-07-02 21:09:14 +00:00
Admin users cannot create subgroups or projects with higher visibility level than that of the immediate parent group.
2020-05-27 21:08:05 +00:00
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
## Visibility of users
2014-02-13 10:55:46 +00:00
2017-01-15 16:45:24 +00:00
The public page of a user, located at `/username` , is always visible whether
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
you are logged in or not.
When visiting the public page of a user, you can only see the projects which
you are privileged to.
2014-02-13 10:55:46 +00:00
2016-04-12 15:04:33 +00:00
If the public level is restricted, user profiles are only visible to logged in users.
2020-04-15 15:09:17 +00:00
## Visibility of pages
By default, the following directories are visible to unauthenticated users:
- Public access (`/public`).
- Explore (`/explore`).
- Help (`/help`).
However, if the access level of the `/public` directory is restricted, these directories are visible only to logged in users.
2014-04-24 22:48:22 +00:00
## Restricting the use of public or internal projects
2014-05-23 12:31:09 +00:00
2019-09-30 00:06:04 +00:00
You can restrict the use of visibility levels for users when they create a project or a
snippet. This is useful to prevent users from publicly exposing their repositories
2015-11-19 15:18:07 +00:00
by accident. The restricted visibility settings do not apply to admin users.
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
2019-09-30 00:06:04 +00:00
For details, see [Restricted visibility levels ](../user/admin_area/settings/visibility_and_access_controls.md#restricted-visibility-levels ).
2019-05-24 08:03:22 +00:00
<!-- ## Troubleshooting
Include any troubleshooting steps that you can foresee. If you know beforehand what issues
one might have when setting this up, or when something is changed, or on upgrading, it's
important to describe those, too. Think of things that may go wrong and include them here.
This is important to minimize requests for support, and to avoid doc comments with
questions that you know someone might ask.
Each scenario can be a third-level heading, e.g. `### Getting error message X` .
If you have none to add when creating a doc, leave this section in place
but commented out to help encourage others to add to it in the future. -->
