• Products
  • Documentation
  • Resources

Move, copy, and hide content items

If you want to move a page or other content items to a different space than the one it’s currently in (or move the item somewhere else in the content tree), you can move the item while editing or viewing. You can also copy or hide items. These actions require specific permissions. For details, review the section for the version of the Confluence editor that you have.

Link redirects

When an item is moved, Confluence will automatically redirect any links to it to the new location. No need to manually update the URL anywhere it's used within Confluence or in any other products.


New editor

This section provides the details for moving, copying, and hiding pages using the new editor.

Reorder items within a space

When you move an item, all the incoming links will be maintained, and when you move a parent item, the entire hierarchy of child items move too.

To reorder items:

  1. Go to the space home and expand the sidebar to locate the content tree

  2. Expand the branches to locate the page or item you want to move

  3. Drag the item to a new position in the tree

You can move a page within a space by dragging and dropping it in the page tree

Move items

You can move items within a space, or you can move an item from one space to another. 

Make sure you have the right space permissions
When you move pages or other items into a different space, you're essentially deleting them in their current space and adding them to the destination space. With that in mind, make sure you have the following permissions.

In the item's current space:

  • Space admin permission

In the destination space:

  • permission to View content in the space

  • permission to View the item or items you want to move

  • permission to Add items in the space

Any of the spaces' space admins can tell you if you have these permissions or not, and give them to you if you don't. You can see who the space's admins are by going to Space settings in the sidebar, selecting Space details from the Manage space card, and looking at the Administrators field.

To move an item within the same space:

  1. Go to the item you want to move.

  2. Select the pencil icon () from the breadcrumb pathway at the top-left of the page. Or, select  from the top-right toolbar and then Move.  The Move dialog box appears.

  3. Use the Browse tab if you need look at the page tree to find the new parent page or item for your content. After moving your item, select Start over if you need to reset the content tree and try again.

  4. Use the Search tab to choose the exact parent item.

  5. Select Move after you've chosen the new parent item.

Moving a page within the same space

The item – along with any attachments, comments, and child items – will move to your chosen location.

To move an item to a different space:

  1. Navigate to and view the item you want to move.

  2. Select the pencil icon () from the breadcrumb pathway at the top-left of the page. Or, select  from the top-right toolbar and then Move.  The Move dialog box appears.

  3. Select the Browse tab if you want to find the new parent item using the content tree, or select the Search tab if you know the new parent item’s name.

  4. Select the name of the new space.
    You'll only see spaces that you have access to.

  5. Drag your item to the new location or select the new parent item.

  6. Select Move after you've chosen the new parent item.

The item – along with any attachments, comments, and child items – will move to your chosen location. 

Copy items

If you need to duplicate the content of a page or other item, the easiest way is to copy the item.

To copy an item, you need permission to Add items in the space. If you don't have the add permission, the Copy option won't appear in the menu.

To copy an item into a different space, you need permission to Add items in both the origin space and the destination space.

When you copy an item, Confluence will rename the page by default — Copy of [originalItemName] — as items in a space must have unique names. You can rename the item after copying it; you just won't be able to publish the new item until it has a unique name in the space.

Copying an item duplicates all of the original item's attachments, labels, and restriction settings, but not its comments. Also, anyone who was "watching" the original item or had the original item "starred" will not automatically be set to watch the new item or have it starred.

To copy an item:

  1. Go to the page or other item you want to copy.

  2. Select the More actions ) menu.

  3. Select Copy

  4. Choose which space you want it to end up in.

  5. Choose which parent item you want to create it under.

  6. Select Copy.

The option to copy an item isn't available when editing.

When copying an item that has other pages or items nested underneath it in a hierarchy, you have the option to include all of them in a bulk copy action. Essentially, this will copy a whole section of your content tree.

To copy an item and all of its children:

  1. Go to the page or other item you want to copy.

  2. Select the More actions (  ) menu.

  3. Select Copy

  4. Choose which space you want these items to end up in.

  5. Choose the new parent item. This is the item in the destination space under which you want to create this copied hierarchy.

  6. Check the box to Include children.

  7. Select Next.

  8. Decide what to name the new items. All items in a given space need unique names. (You can do this in bulk.) 

    1. You can also decide here whether to copy over restriction settings and labels for each respective item.

  9. Select Copy.

Hide items

You can hide a page or other items from the content tree by moving it to the root of the space — that is, rearranging the item in your content tree to put it at the same level as the space home page. This removes the item from your content tree so people can't find it by browsing through the tree. Hidden (and orphaned) items still show up in search results, and can be accessed if someone has the page URL.

For example, if you're creating a space for a client and there's a page on which you take notes, you can keep it in the space, hidden, and still link to it from elsewhere on your site.

If you don't want anyone to find a page, you don't need to hide it. Instead, you can just change the page restrictions settings. To archive a page instead, see Archive pages. To delete a page instead, see Delete, restore, or purge a page.

To hide an item:

  1. Select Space settings from the sidebar.

  2. Select Reorder from the Manage content card.

  3. Open the content tree and move the item to the same level as the home page.

In this example, the page "memes" is hidden in the page tree because it's at the same level as Sami Peachey's Home.

Screenshot showing reordering pages to hide.

If you do not have any incoming links, your page will be an orphan. Confluence lets you see a list of orphaned pages in your space. This is useful if you're using include page macros to pull content from one page onto multiple other pages. As you add and remove content over time, you can see which pages aren't being referenced anywhere by checking Hidden pages. 

To view the orphaned and hidden items in a space:

  1. Select Space settings from the sidebar.

  2. Select Hidden from the Manage content card.

This image shows the Hidden items view. From here you can view, edit, or delete orphaned items. 

The hidden pages view in Confluence

Legacy editor

This section provides the details for moving, copying, and hiding pages using the legacy editor.

Reorder pages within a space

When you move a page, all the incoming links will be maintained, and when you move a parent page, the entire hierarchy of child pages move too.

To reorder pages:

  1. Go to the space home and expand the sidebar to locate the page tree

  2. Expand the branches to locate the page you want to move

  3. Drag the page to a new position in the tree

You can move a page within a space by dragging and dropping it in the page tree

Move pages

You can move pages within a space, or you can move a page to a different space. 

Moving a page from one space to another requires that you have space admin permissions in the original space and view and add permissions in the destination space.

To move a page:

  1. Navigate to and view the page you want to move.

  2. Select  > Move.  The Move page dialog box appears.

  3. Use one of the options on the left panel of the Move page dialog box to find the new parent page for your content. 
    If you use Advanced and enter a page name, you'll need to select the suggested page. Just typing or pasting in the page name in won't work.

  4. Select the Reorder check box if you want to move the page to a different position amongst the child pages (when you select Move in the next step, you'll be able to reorder the page).

  5. Select Move (If you're reordering the child pages, select the new position for the page and select Reorder).

The page – along with any attachments, comments, and child pages – will move to your chosen location. Confluence automatically adjusts any in-app links to point to the new location. 

Moving a Confluence page

To move a page to a different space:

  1. Navigate to and view the page you want to move.

  2. Select  > Move.  The Move page dialog box appears.

  3. Select Search in the left panel of the Move page dialog box.

  4. Enter the new parent page name, make sure All Spaces is selected, and select Search.
    Keep in mind that the results are filtered to the spaces to which you have access.

  5. Select the Reorder check box if you want to move the page to a different position amongst the child pages (when you choose Move in the next step, you'll be able to reorder the page).

  6. Select Move (If you're reordering the child pages, select the new position for the page and choose Reorder).

The page – along with any attachments, comments, and child pages – will move to your chosen location. Confluence automatically adjusts any in-app links to point to the new location. 

Copy pages

If you need to duplicate the content of a page, the easiest way is to copy the page.

When you copy a page, Confluence will rename the page Copy of [originalPageName] by default, as pages in a space must have unique names, but you can change this while editing. You can keep the same name if you're moving the page to a different space.

To copy a page:

  1. Go to a page in the space, and click  > Copy. Confluence opens a copy of the page in the editor. 

  2. Rename the page, and make any other changes in the body of the page. 

  3. Select Save.

Things to keep in mind

  • Copying a page duplicates all of the original page's attachments and labels.

  • Copying a page doesn't bring with it:

    • page or inline comments

    • page restrictions

    • watched requests by anyone

    • starred requests by others (If you starred the page and copy it, the copied page will retain your star.)

Hide pages

You can hide a page from the page tree by moving it to the root of the space. That is, when you rearrange pages, have it at the same level as the space home page. This hides your page from the page tree, and it's useful if you want to create a page that you don't want to be as visible. So for example, if you're creating a space for a client and there's another page on which you take notes. You can still link to this from elsewhere on your site. 

To hide a page: 

  1. Go to a page in the space

  2. Choose Space settings from the sidebar > Content Tools > Reorder Pages

  3. Move the page to the same level as the home page

In this example, the page memes is hidden in the page tree because it's at the same level as Sami Peachey's Home.

Screenshot showing reordering pages to hide.

If you do not have any incoming links, your page will be an orphan. Confluence lets you see a list of orphaned pages in your space. This is useful if you're using include page macros to pull content from one page onto multiple other pages. As you add and remove content over time, you can see which pages aren't being referenced anywhere by checking the Orphaned Pages list. 

To view the orphaned pages in a space:

  • Go to a page in the space

  • Choose Space settings from the sidebar > Content Tools > Orphaned Pages

This image shows the Orphaned Pages view. From here you can view, edit, or delete orphaned pages. 

The hidden pages view in Confluence

Hidden and orphaned pages still show up in search results, and can be accessed if someone has the page URL. If you would like for a page not to show up in search results, you can move it to an archived space, but the only way to stop anyone from seeing it even with the URL, is to add page restrictions to it. 

If the page has restrictions, and you want to keep the page restrictions in the new location, you'll also need Restrict permission in the space you're moving to. 

The easiest way to set a page's location in Confluence is to navigate to the space where you want the page to live, find its parent page, and select Create. If your needs then change, you can move the page while editing or viewing.

Additional Help