# Hidden pages (/organize/hidden-pages)

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Related: [Exclude files from publishing](/organize/mintignore.md), [Navigation](/organize/navigation.md), [Pages](/organize/pages.md), [Related topics](/organize/related-pages.md), [How to understand your documentation audience](/guides/understand-your-audience.md)

Hidden pages don't appear in your site's navigation, but anyone who knows the URL can still access them. For example, if you create a hidden page like `guides/hidden-page.mdx`, visitors can reach it at `docs.yoursite.com/guides/hidden-page`.

Use hidden pages for content you want users to access or reference as context for AI tools, but don't want listed in the navigation.

<Warning>
  Hidden pages are not private. Anyone with the URL can view them, and links shared externally still work. Hiding a page only removes it from the rendered navigation.

  If your content requires strict access control, you must configure [authentication](/deploy/authentication-setup). To restrict pages to specific user groups, set up [group-based access control](/deploy/authentication-setup#control-access-with-groups).
</Warning>

See an [example of a hidden page](/organize/hidden-page-example).

<Note>
  Some navigation elements like sidebars, dropdowns, and tabs may appear empty or shift layout on hidden pages.
</Note>

## Hide a page [#hide-a-page]

To hide a page, set `hidden: true` in the page's [frontmatter](/organize/pages) or remove it from your `docs.json` navigation.

### Set `hidden: true` in frontmatter [#set-hidden-true-in-frontmatter]

Add `hidden: true` to a page's frontmatter to remove it from the rendered navigation while still including it in your `docs.json` configuration.

```yaml
---
title: "My hidden page"
hidden: true
---
```

To make a page visible again, remove the `hidden` field entirely. Do not set `hidden: false` as it results in undefined behavior.

<Note>
  By default, `hidden: true` excludes a page from search engine indexing, sitemaps, and AI context.

  To include it anyway, set `seo.indexing: "all"` in `docs.json`. See [Search, SEO, and AI indexing](#search-seo-and-ai-indexing) for details.

  `noindex: true` only affects indexing—it does not hide the page from navigation. See [Disable indexing](/optimize/seo#disable-indexing) for more information.
</Note>

### Remove the page from navigation [#remove-the-page-from-navigation]

If you don't include a page in your `docs.json` navigation, you hide it. This method works well for pages that you don't want to appear in navigation at all.

## Hide a group of pages [#hide-a-group-of-pages]

To hide a group of pages, set the `hidden` property to `true` for the group in your `docs.json` file:

```json highlight={4}
"groups": [
  {
    "group": "Getting started",
    "hidden": true,
    "pages": [
      "index",
      "quickstart"
    ]
  },
  {
    "group": "Guides",
    "pages": [
      "guides/hidden-page.mdx",
      "guides/hidden-groups.mdx"
    ]
  }
]
```

In this example, the `Getting started` group stays hidden and the `Guides` group remains visible.

### Hide a tab [#hide-a-tab]

To hide a tab, add the `hidden` property for the tab in your `docs.json` file:

```json highlight={4}
"tabs": [
  {
    "tab": "Home",
    "hidden": true,
    "pages": [
      "index",
      "quickstart"
    ]
  }
]
```

## Search, SEO, and AI indexing [#search-seo-and-ai-indexing]

By default, hidden pages don't appear in indexing for search engines, documentation site search, or as AI assistant context. You have two ways to include hidden content in search and indexing.

The following table summarizes how each property affects page visibility and indexing:

| Property                                 | Sidebar navigation | Site search | Sitemap  | Search engine indexing | AI assistant context |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------- | -------- | ---------------------- | -------------------- |
| `hidden: true`                           | Hidden             | Excluded    | Excluded | Excluded               | Excluded             |
| `noindex: true`                          | Visible            | Excluded    | Excluded | Excluded               | Excluded             |
| `searchable: false` (page frontmatter)   | Visible            | Excluded    | Included | Included               | Excluded             |
| `searchable: true` (on hidden tab/group) | Hidden             | Included    | Included | Included               | Included             |
| `seo.indexing: "all"` (in `docs.json`)   | Hidden             | Included    | Included | Included               | Included             |

### Include all hidden pages [#include-all-hidden-pages]

To include every hidden page across your site in search, sitemaps, and AI context, add the `seo` property to your `docs.json`:

```json
"seo": {
    "indexing": "all"
}
```

### Include pages under specific hidden tabs or groups [#include-pages-under-specific-hidden-tabs-or-groups]

To include only the pages under a specific hidden tab or group, set `searchable: true` on that tab or group in your `docs.json`. Use this option when you hide tabs or groups to control navigation layout but still want descendant pages discoverable.

```json highlight={5}
"tabs": [
  {
    "tab": "Storage",
    "hidden": true,
    "searchable": true,
    "groups": [
      {
        "group": "Buckets",
        "pages": ["products/storage/buckets/create-bucket"]
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

With `searchable: true`, descendant pages remain in:

* Documentation site search
* `sitemap.xml`
* AI assistant context
* MCP server search results
* Search engine indexing (the `noindex` meta tag is not applied)

The tab or group itself stays hidden from the rendered navigation.

A page's own `hidden: true` frontmatter always takes precedence. To re-exclude a descendant group, set `hidden: true` on it without `searchable: true`.

### Page-level `searchable` [#page-level-searchable]

At the page frontmatter level, `searchable` only accepts `false`. Use it to keep a page indexable by external search engines while excluding it from in-product search and AI assistant context. See [Exclude a page from search](/optimize/search#exclude-a-page-from-search) for an example.

Page-level `searchable` does not override `hidden: true` on the same page. To make a hidden page discoverable, leave `searchable` unset and either move it under a hidden tab or group with `searchable: true`, or set `seo.indexing: "all"` in `docs.json`.

### Understanding hidden versus noindex [#understanding-hidden-versus-noindex]

The relationship between `hidden` and `noindex` is one-directional:

* **`hidden: true` → automatically applies `noindex`**: Hidden pages are automatically excluded from search engines, sitemaps, and AI context.
* **`noindex: true` → does NOT apply `hidden`**: Pages with `noindex: true` remain visible in navigation. They don't appear in site search, sitemaps, search engine indexing, or AI assistant context.

To exclude a specific page from search and indexing while keeping it visible in navigation, add `noindex: true` to its frontmatter. To hide a page from navigation as well, use `hidden: true`. To exclude a page only from your in-product search and AI assistant context while keeping it indexable by external search engines, use [`searchable: false`](/optimize/search#exclude-a-page-from-search) instead.