Share content externally with public links

A public link is a special URL that directs to safe, view-only version of an individual Confluence page. Content on a page with public links can be viewed by and shared with anyone. This is a great way to share content with people like clients, vendors, and contractors without needing to pay for an extra seat on Confluence.

Public Links has been temporarily restricted to customers that are already using the feature, and the ability to share Public Links is off by default. Only Confluence and site admins can allow public links in Confluence settings. With public links allowed, users will have the choice to disable or enable public links on individual Confluence pages.

How to allow or disallow public links on Confluence

“Allowing” public links on Confluence makes them available to users on pages they have access to. “Disallowing” public links on Confluences makes them unavailable to all users and turns off all existing public links.

Only site and product admins can allow or disallow public links.

To allow public links on Confluence:

1. Select at the top-right of the navigation.

2. Select Settings.

3. Click Public links on the left.
   This will display the Public links screen.

4. Toggle on Allow public links on Confluence.

With public links allowed, Confluence users will be able to use a public link to share individual pages with anyone on the internet.

To disallow public links on Confluence:

1. Select at the top-right of the navigation.

2. Select Settings.

3. Click Public links on the left.
   This will display the Public links screen.

4. Toggle off Allow public links on Confluence.

How do public links work?

A public link creates a view-only version of an individual Confluence page that can be viewed by anyone on the internet with the public link.

• When a user enables the public link on a page, it generates a unique URL.

• The public link’s unique URL directs to a view-only version of the page that can be shared with anyone on the internet.

• The view-only version of the page can only be accessed through the public link. The public link can be shared with anyone.

• The view-only version of the page is a limited version of the regular Confluence page. See What content can be seen through a public link? for more details.

• Public pages created through public links will not appear in search engine results.

If a logged-in user clicks a public link and has existing access to the page, they’ll be redirected to the regular page in Confluence.

Public links only shares individual pages. If you enable a public link on a parent page, it only applies to the parent page, not any of its child pages.

What content can be seen through a public link?

When people who don’t have access to Confluence click on a public link, they see a safe, view-only version of the page that was shared.

The view-only version hides any content outside of the shared page and locks most Confluence functionalities.

Functionality that’s unavailable in the view-only version:

• Edit the page.

• Comment inline or on the page.

• View inline or page comments.

• See the Confluence navigation.

• See the page tree and page breadcrumbs.

• Most macros, including those that contain data outside of the shared page and all third party macros.

Functionality that’s available in the view-only version:

• View native content published within the shared page.

• New users can request access to Confluence (must be enabled in site settings).

• Log in with an existing Atlassian account.

To see a preview of a view-only page, copy and paste the public link into an incognito browsing window.

Who can enable public links?

When Allow public links on Confluence is turned on, users in Confluence will be able to enable or disable public links on pages they have existing access to.

The public link cannot be enabled if the page or parent page has existing view restrictions.

How to enable a public link on a page

With Allow public links on Confluence toggled on in settings, users will have the choice to enable or disable public links on individual pages that they have access to.

To disable a public link:

1. Navigate to the page you want to share publicly.

2. Select the Share button at the top right.

3. Toggle on Public link.

Repeat the process to disable the Public link.

Disabling a public link on a page causes the public link to become invalid. Anyone who had the public link can’t use it to access the page anymore, and it can’t be recovered. When you turn the toggle back on, a new unique public link is generated.

How to share a page using a public link

Public links are only shareable via the Share button on a Confluence page.

To share a public link by email:

1. Navigate to the page you want to share publicly.

2. Select the Share button at the top right.

3. Make sure the Public link is enabled.

4. Add the email addresses of people you would like to share the page with publicly. Add an optional message for context.

5. Select Send public link.

To share a public link directly:

1. Navigate to the page you want to share publicly.

2. Select the Share button at the top right.

3. Make sure the Public link is enabled.

4. Select Copy public link.

5. Paste the public link in any app of your choice to share it publicly.

Regenerate a public link

In some cases, you may need to invalidate a public link and create a new public link to the page. This is called regenerating.

To regenerate a public link:

1. Navigate to the page you want to regenerate a public link for.

2. Select the Share button at the top right.

3. Disable the Public link.

4. A confirmation message will appear indicating that the active public link will become invalid. Select Confirm.

5. Toggle on Public link. This generates a new, unique public link that can be reshared.

Macros that non-users can see

The view-only version of the page hides most Confluence macros. People that access the view-only version can only see the following macros:

• Status

• Table of Contents

• Info, Tip, Note, and Warning

• Code Block

• Expand

• Excerpt

• Profile Picture

• Roadmap Planner

All other macros are not viewable in the view-only version of the page.