Share content externally with public links
Public links allow teams to share individual Confluence content items with people outside of Confluence without giving them access to Confluence. This could be useful for sharing information to the public, like customer FAQs, release notes, shareholder letters, and more.
On this page, you’ll find guidance on how to use public links to share your content with anyone on the internet.
For details on how public links work, go to How secure are public links?
If you’re an admin looking for guidance on how to get started with public links, go to Control whether spaces can allow public links.
Public links are only available on Confluence’s paid plans (Standard, Premium, and Enterprise). Only Confluence pages and whiteboards can have public links, not any other type of Confluence content (e.g., blogs, databases, etc.).
Turn on a public link
A public link is available for any page and whiteboard in Confluence (your admin allows them). Always use caution when sharing content externally.
Content items will only ever have one public link
If you turn a public link off, anyone who already has it won’t be able to access the content anymore. But if you later turn the public link back on, those people will again be able to access the page because it’s the same link.
To turn on and share a public link:
Go to the content item you want a public link for.
Open Share in the top right.
Turn on the public link toggle at the bottom of the window.
The public link will be automatically copied, for your convenience.
Or if the public link toggle is already on, select Copy public link.
Paste the link in an email, a chat tool, on social media — wherever you want to communicate with the audience for the content.
If you can’t turn on a public link, then you don’t have permission to turn it on. This could be because:
public links aren’t allowed in the space (or on your site)
the specific public link has been blocked by an admin
you don’t have permission to edit the content item
you don’t have space permission to edit restrictions for content in the space
Be aware that anyone you share a public link with can share that link with anyone they want to. As long as the public toggle is on, anyone on the internet with the public link can view the content, whether you shared directly with them or not.
Also, be aware that anyone who can view your internal content item can copy its public link and share it with anyone on the internet.
Make sure to share the correct link
You need the actual public link from the Share window or else anyone on the internet you share with won’t be able to view the content. The link in your browser is not the public link.
To view what public link visitors see:
Copy the public link.
Open a new tab in your browser.
Paste the public link in the new tab.
Or you can copy the public link, log out of your Atlassian account, and paste the public link in any browser tab.
Note: Custom emojis will display on public content by default. If you want to prevent this and you’re an organization admin, you can go to Atlassian Administration > Site settings > Emoji and turn the toggle off for Allow custom emojis on publicly shared content. If custom emojis aren’t allowed on public content, they’ll display as text — their custom emoji name framed with two colons, such as :dancingbird:
To turn off a public link:
Go to the content item you want a public link for.
Open Share in the top right.
Turn off the public link toggle at the bottom of the window.
Anyone on the internet who still has the public link is blocked from viewing the content as long as the public link toggle is off.
What to know when sharing public links
Always use caution when sharing content externally. Here are a few key points to know for using public links safely.
Internal view restrictions don’t apply
As long as your admins allow you to use public links, a public link will just work, regardless of any view restrictions. Public links ignore any restrictions to who can access a parent item, the space, and the site itself.
No matter who is restricted from viewing the internal content item, anyone on the internet who you share the public link with will be able to view its content.
Public links hide sensitive information
Visitors will see a safe, view-only version of the content that hides any content outside of the shared page (page tree, macros, etc.) and locks most Confluence functionality.
To learn more about what public link visitors can see, go to the “What is hidden from visitors” section of How secure are public links?
Public links don’t share branches of the content tree
Each public link corresponds to one content item only. If you turn on and share a public link for a content item that has any child items, the public link will only reveal the parent item, not any of the child items. To share the child items too, you’ll need to turn on their public links and share each of them individually.
What to expect from public whiteboards
Public whiteboards differ from public pages in that, firstly, whiteboard visitors can edit the whiteboard if the whiteboard’s public link has been set to Can edit.
Secondly, whiteboards differ from pages in that they are live, in real-time; changes to them don’t need to be published before visitors can see them.
This makes public whiteboards useful for sharing roadmaps, brainstorms, holding workshops, and more.
Visitors are represented in the top toolbar and as a cursor moving across the whiteboard while they’re viewing and/or editing it. They can see collaborators working on the board and other anonymous visitors.
Anyone visiting the public whiteboard will be represented as “Anonymous”, even if they can access the internal whiteboard link.
Collaborators can see anonymous visitors and their cursors from the internal version of the whiteboard and can control what name appears under their cursor to anonymous visitors.
Anonymous users will be able to view your public name. To update how your name appears to anonymous users:
Select your avatar, then Manage Account.
In the Profile and visibility tab, select your name under Public name.
Enter how you would like your name to appear publicly, then save. Your changes will take effect within five minutes.
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