01
Decide if it gets a page.
Every video can have a share page of its own on Stillhaven, or none at all and play only in your embeds (and channels, from Creator).
Password protected video sharing: Share it with the people it is for.
Put a password on a video's share page, hand out a link that stops working after six hours to thirty days, email it straight to the people who need it, or turn the share page off so it plays only where you embed it. Each one is a setting on the video, and they work together. Every plan.
How private sharing works
02
Lock it, or give it an end date.
Add a password, make links that expire, or both. A password still applies to anyone who comes in on an expiring link.
03
Send it.
Copy the link and password into a message, or email the video to up to 10 people from the console, with a note and a link that ends when you say.
All of this lives in the Share page and Send panels on a video's page in the console, for editors and admins.
Four ways to keep a video private
Password protected share pages
One password on the video. It is asked for on the share page, in embeds and before a download.
Expiring share links
A link that works for six hours up to thirty days, and stops at once when you revoke it.
Send a video by email
Up to 10 people, each with an email of their own, a note from you and a link that ends.
Share page off
No public page at all. The video plays in your embeds, in channels from Creator, and for anyone holding an expiring link.
How to password protect a video
Open Share page on the video's page and, under Access, choose Password protected. A suggested password is filled in for you, two plain words and a number you can read down a phone line. Keep it, type your own (4 to 64 characters), or press Generate for another, then press Save password. Copy link and password copies both, ready to paste into a message.
The password covers the share page, the embed and the share-page download. A locked embed shows a link to the share page, where the viewer enters the password and watches. Once in, they stay unlocked in that browser for 14 days. Wrong guesses are rate limited, and the password page carries your logo and colors when your plan brands share pages.
Changing the password signs out everyone who already unlocked the page. Choosing Public removes it straight away. If an account later moves to a plan without passwords, a protected page goes dark rather than opening to the public.
No link previews for protected videos
Paste an ordinary share link into Slack, iMessage or a social post and the service fetches a frame and a player for the preview. For a protected video, Stillhaven sends none of that: the preview carries the title and the line This video is password protected. and nothing else. A forwarded link cannot show a frame to somebody it was not meant for.
Protected pages, and pages opened by an expiring link, tell search engines not to index them, and the oEmbed endpoint that editors such as Notion use to build a player refuses a protected video.
Share links that expire
Under Expiring links, choose how long it Works for: 6 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days or 30 days. Press Create link, then Copy. Each link lists how long it has left, and Revoke stops it working at once. A video can have up to 25 active links, so you can give each person their own and revoke one without touching the rest.
Someone who opens a link after its time gets a page that says This link has expired, so they know to ask you for a new one.
What a link changes depends on the share page. With the share page off, an expiring link is the only way in, which makes it the private hand-off: when it runs out, there is no way to watch. With the share page on, the plain share link keeps working for anyone who has it; an expiring link cannot take back a page that is already public. A password, if set, applies either way.
Send a video by email
Open Send. In To, enter up to 10 addresses; each person gets an email of their own, from you by name, with a button to watch. Add a Note if you like: plain text, up to 500 characters, no links, so the only link in the email is the one to your video.
Choose how long the Link works for. With the share page on, the default is as long as the share page is on. With it off, the email carries an expiring link, seven days unless you pick another, and its clock starts when the email is sent, not when you wrote it.
Send a video that is still processing and the email waits and goes out when the video is ready; a send still waiting after two days is dropped. The email never includes a share-page password, and leaves out the poster frame when the video is protected; send the password separately. An account can send to 100 people a day. Sending starts with your first payment: during the trial, copy the share link or an expiring link instead.
Embed only: turn the share page off
Clear Give this video a share page on Stillhaven and the video has no public page. Only your embeds, your channels and expiring links can play it, and share links you have already sent stop working. It saves as soon as you change it, and you can turn it back on any time.
To make embed only the starting point, an admin can clear New videos get a share page on Stillhaven in Settings. That applies to new uploads; videos you already have keep their pages.
The embed has its own lock. To stop a copied embed code playing on sites that are not yours, use allowed domains. The share page switch governs the page; allowed domains governs embeds.
Putting them together
Deliver a cut to one client
Turn the share page off and send the video by email with a 7-day link. After a week there is no way in. Add a password if the email might be forwarded.
Client review behind a password
Anyone who can open a share page can leave review notes on it, so password protect the page you send for sign-off. See video review and approval.
Named viewers, each signed in
One password is shared by everyone who has it. When each viewer should sign in as themselves, put the videos in a private channel. Creator and up.
Only on your own site
Turn the share page off and lock the embed to your domains, and the video plays on your site and nowhere else. See allowed domains.
Downloads from the share page
Allow download on share page, under Player, adds a download button for viewers. Only admins can turn it on, and on a protected video the download works only for someone who has entered the password. Leave it off and viewers can watch but not save the file. Every plan.
From Creator up, the API can set the share page, its password and downloads, so a script or a CMS can lock a video the moment it is published.
Which plans include private sharing
Password protected share pages, expiring share links, the share page switch and share-page downloads are on every plan, Solo included. Sending a video by email is on every plan from the first payment. Private channels with per-viewer sign-in are Creator and up. Compare plans for the rest.
What it is not
It is not DRM. Media is served with short-lived signed access, but anyone who can watch a video can record their screen, and nothing here watermarks a copy per viewer. A share-page password is one password for everyone you give it to, not an account per viewer; it does not say who watched. It does not close a public channel: anyone with that channel's link can still watch the video there. And an expiring link does not make a public share page private; turn the page off for that.
If unlisted links on a free platform are what you use today, Stillhaven vs YouTube sets out the difference. For how a private link fits a client review, from the first cut to the sign-off, read Video proofing.
Questions people ask
How do I password protect a video?
Open the video in the console, open Share page, and under Access choose Password protected. A suggested password is filled in; keep it or type your own, 4 to 64 characters, and press Save password. Copy link and password copies both, ready to paste into a message. Every plan.
Does the password protect the embed too?
Yes. The password is asked for on the share page, in embeds and before a share-page download. A locked embed shows a link to the share page, where the viewer enters the password and watches.
What does a password protected link show when it is pasted into Slack or a chat?
The title, and that the video is password protected. No frame of the video and no player, so a forwarded link shows nothing to somebody it was not meant for. Protected pages are also kept out of search engines.
How long can an expiring share link last?
You choose: 6 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days or 30 days. Revoke stops a link at once, before its time is up. A video can have up to 25 active links.
Can I share a video with one person without making it public?
Yes. Turn the video's share page off, then send that person an expiring link. With the page off, an expiring link is the only way to it, and when the link runs out there is no way in.
Can I email a video to a client?
Yes. Enter up to 10 addresses, add a note if you like, and choose how long their link works. Each person gets their own email with a button to watch. If the video is still processing, the email waits and goes out when it is ready. Sending starts with your first payment; it is off during the trial.
Is a password protected video completely secure?
It stops anyone without the password from watching, and media is served with short-lived signed access. It is not DRM: anyone who can watch a video can record their screen. One password is shared by everyone you give it to; for named viewers who each sign in, use a private channel.
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