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---
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stage: none
group: unassigned
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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type: reference
---
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# Project visibility
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GitLab allows [Owners ](../user/permissions.md ) to set a project's visibility as:
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- **Public**
- **Internal**
- **Private**
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These visibility levels affect who can see the project in the public access directory (`/public`
for your GitLab instance). For example, < https: / / gitlab . com / public > .
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You can control the visibility of individual features with
[project feature settings ](../user/permissions.md#project-features ).
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## Public projects
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Public projects can be cloned **without any** authentication over HTTPS.
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They are listed in the public access directory (`/public`) for all users.
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**Any signed-in user** has the [Guest role ](../user/permissions.md ) on the repository.
NOTE:
By default, `/public` is visible to unauthenticated users. However, if the
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[**Public** visibility level ](../user/admin_area/settings/visibility_and_access_controls.md#restrict-visibility-levels )
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is restricted, `/public` is visible only to signed-in users.
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## Internal projects
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Internal projects can be cloned by any signed-in user except
[external users ](../user/permissions.md#external-users ).
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They are also listed in the public access directory (`/public`), but only for signed-in users.
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Any signed-in users except [external users ](../user/permissions.md#external-users ) have the
[Guest role ](../user/permissions.md ) on the repository.
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NOTE:
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From July 2019, the `Internal` visibility setting is disabled for new projects, groups,
and snippets on GitLab.com. Existing projects, groups, and snippets using the `Internal`
visibility setting keep this setting. You can read more about the change in the
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[relevant issue ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/12388 ).
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## Private projects
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Private projects can only be cloned and viewed by project members (except for guests).
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They appear in the public access directory (`/public`) for project members only.
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## Change project visibility
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Prerequisite:
- You must have the Owner role for a project.
1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > General** .
1. Expand **Visibility, project features, permissions** .
1. Change **Project visibility** to either Public, Internal, or Private.
1. Select **Save changes** .
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## Restrict use of public or internal projects
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You can restrict the use of visibility levels for users when they create a project or a snippet.
This is useful to prevent users from publicly exposing their repositories by accident. The
restricted visibility settings do not apply to admin users.
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For details, see [Restricted visibility levels ](../user/admin_area/settings/visibility_and_access_controls.md#restrict-visibility-levels ).
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