How to Password Protect Your WordPress Forms

Building WordPress sites for clients and ourselves, we’ve seen how quickly unprotected forms can become a security headache. One client’s job application form was overwhelmed with fake entries, causing them to miss out on qualified candidates.

Password protection is a simple way to keep your forms secure. It gives you full control over who can view and submit them, helping you keep sensitive data private and submissions clean.

After testing various solutions, we found that WPForms and the block editor offer the best way to password-protect forms.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to easily add password protection to any WordPress form, no technical setup required. 🔐

Why Password Protect WordPress Forms?

There are lots of reasons why you might password-protect forms on your WordPress website.

For instance, you create and maintain websites for a number of clients. When they need support, they fill out a support request form. Non-clients shouldn’t be able to request support using that form.

You have weekly appointments with clients over Zoom or Skype, which they can book through your website. Non-clients shouldn’t be able to book an appointment.

You run an online photography club. Members can send in their best photos each month, and you feature a selection on your website. Non-members shouldn’t be able to send in photos.

In all these membership situations, you want to prevent non-clients or non-members from filling out your form. Otherwise, you need to carefully review all the form entries to check whether they are valid submissions.

We are going to cover 2 ways to password-protect your forms in WordPress. You can click the links below to jump to any section:

Let’s get started.

Method 1: Password Protect a WordPress Form Using WPForms

WPForms is our #1-rated contact form plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create any kind of WordPress form by using a simple drag-and-drop form builder and even AI tools!

At WPBeginner, we use WPForms to display our contact form and run our annual reader surveys. Find out everything about it in our detailed WPForms review.

Now, WPForms comes with a Form Locker addon, which allows you to add password protection to your WordPress forms when needed.

First, you need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

For this tutorial, we will use the WPForms Pro version because it includes the Form Locker addon, more form templates, and more. There is also a WPForms Lite version available for free, but it doesn’t include the Form Locker addon.

Upon activation, you can head to WPForms » Settings from the WordPress dashboard. From here, simply enter your license key and click the ‘Verify Key’ button. You can easily find the key in your account area.

Once you have your form ready, the next step is to install the Form Locker addon for WPForms.

First, go to WPForms » Addons in your WordPress admin.

Here, you need to search for the ‘Form Locker’ addon.

Just click on the ‘Install Addon’ button to install and activate it. The addon will automatically activate once the installation process is finished.

Next, you need to set up your form. Just follow our instructions on how to create a contact form in WordPress for help with this.

Now, go to WPForms » All Forms and find the form that you want to protect.

Simply click on the form name to start editing it.

Next, go to Settings » Form Locker from the left panel.

Go ahead and enable the ‘Form Verification’ option. Once you do that, you’ll see more options appear.

By default, the verification type will be set to Password. However, you can also use age and email as the verification type.

Next, you will need to enter a password. You may also enter a display message if you want to.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen after setting your password.

You can also click the ‘Embed’ button to add your form to a new or existing page.

You can now visit your website to see the password-protected form in action.

Now, when someone visits a post or page with that form on, they will see the rest of the content but not the form itself.

When the user enters the password, the password box and message will disappear.

They will see the page content and the form itself:

You could also use this method to password-protect forms in widget areas such as your sidebar.

Outside of password protection, Form Locker offers other advanced features, such as limiting the total number of entries, restricting access to logged-in users only, and even enabling form submissions for only certain dates.

However, if you’re looking for a free option to password-protect your form, then see option #2.

Method 2: Password Protect the Form’s WordPress Page

What if you want to hide the whole page, not just the form itself? This is very easy to do in WordPress.

First, create a new page or edit an existing one. When you’re in the content editor, simply click on the ‘Public’ link from the settings panel on the right.

You will now see the ‘Post Visibility’ popup.

Next, click the ‘Password Protected’ option and type in the password you want to use.

That’s it! You can publish or update your page or post.

Now, when someone visits that page, they will need to enter a password to see any of the content:

Bonus Resources 🔗: More WordPress Security Guides

Keeping your WordPress site secure is an ongoing process, and there’s always more you can do. Check out these additional guides to take your security to the next level:

• The Ultimate WordPress Security Guide – Comprehensive tips to protect your site from all angles.
• How and Why You Should Limit Login Attempts in WordPress – Prevent brute force attacks by restricting login attempts.
• How to Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress – Add an extra layer of protection to your login process.
• How to Get a Free SSL Certificate for Your WordPress Website – Secure your site with HTTPS and boost trust with your visitors.
• Ecommerce Security Tips: How to Secure Your WordPress Store – Safeguard your online store from potential threats.
• Signs Your WordPress Site Is Hacked (Expert Tips) – Know the warning signs and how to take immediate action.

Video Tutorial

Want to see it in action? Then you’ll like our video tutorial on how to password-protect your WordPress forms. Just click Play! ▶️

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We hope this article helped you learn how to password-protect your WordPress forms. You may also want to see our ultimate guide to using WordPress forms and how to secure your contact forms.

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