Your guests can’t see the album

What does the guest screen say?

A guest link lands on exactly 1 of 3 screens, and the wording tells you which problem you have. “Album not found” means the album never reached the browser. A lock icon above “This album is private” means you set a viewing password.

The full line under the first screen reads “This album does not exist or has been removed.” You get that same wording whatever the cause behind it.

The third screen is an album that opens and holds no photos. Nothing is switched off there, and the code is right.

1. Use a phone that is not signed in. Your dashboard shows media guests never receive, so the owner view cannot answer this question.
2. Read the exact wording. “Album not found”, a lock screen and an album with no photos are 3 different faults.
3. Change the setting, not the link. The short code survives every visibility change, so printed cards and signs keep working.

Why 1 page covers 4 different causes

The album endpoint treats a hidden album and a missing album the same way, on purpose. Someone who should not see an album never learns it exists. So a private album, an unpaid draft, a deleted album and a mistyped code all render the same “Album not found” page.

The guest screen narrows it to 4 candidates, and your own settings decide which. Start in the event settings and work down the list below.

Only the bottom 2 rows tell a guest anything useful. The top 4 look identical from outside. The answer lives in your dashboard, not on the guest phone.

Did the payment go through?

A paid album starts as a draft. It stays a draft until the card payment clears; a free album goes live the second you save it. While the draft lasts, the 2 links disagree with each other.

The album link answers “Album not found”. The upload link shows guests “This album isn’t open yet” instead.

Test both after checkout, not the QR code alone. A host who scans the code sees a polite waiting screen and takes the rest on trust.

Is the album set to private?

Publishing is its own switch. It sits apart from whether the event is live, and apart from whether uploads are open. So an album can collect photos all night and still show nothing to the people opening it.

Every guest gets the same “Album not found” page, including someone who uploaded 10 minutes earlier. Their files survive untouched; you switched off the sharing, and only the sharing.

Turn publishing back on and the same short code works again, because publishing mints no new link.

Is there a password on the album?

A viewing password puts a lock screen in front of everything. That screen shows no event name on purpose. Someone without the password should not learn whose celebration sits behind the code.

Guests read “This album is private” and the prompt to enter the password you gave them. They stop there.

The download password is a second, separate password. It gates saving files rather than looking. A guest can hold one of the pair and still be blocked by the other.

The album opens but there are no photos

You are looking at the review queue. With review switched on, an upload reaches nobody until you approve it, so guests get a working page and an empty grid. The page counts what is waiting, in place of the usual invitation to be first.

Guests read “3 moments are here but not in the album yet. Check back soon.” instead. That counter reads the same queue your dashboard badge reads.

On August 22, 2026 a production album still showed the ordinary invitation to guests who had uploaded 16 files minutes earlier. That is the mistake the counter now prevents.

Voice messages carry their own switch as well. Hidden from the album, they stay visible to you and invisible to everyone else.

Has the album run out of time?

Every album gets a fixed run counted from the event date. The free plan gives 30 days; the paid plans give 90, 183 or 365. A 14-day grace period follows, and then we delete the media and the link answers “Album not found” for good.

Warning emails go out 14, 3 and 1 day ahead of removal.

Archiving is a different thing and works the other way round. An archived album stays readable for guests. Uploading ends, because archiving also kills the upload links guests hold.