Direct answer
Confirmed from the product surface: Behance offers three creator-controlled visibility states for a project — Public, Private, and Password Protected. Changing the visibility toggle is the mechanism creators use to restrict access before a general release.
What is not publicly documented and therefore uncertain: the exact backend handling of an existing Curated badge and the precise timing of search index updates when a project moves from Public to Password Protected. The behavior below is a conservative synthesis of typical platform patterns and should be treated as likely, not confirmed.
Curated status when visibility is restricted
Confirmed fact: the Curated badge is applied by Adobe staff and is visible on the project page while the project is publicly accessible.
Likely explanation, marked for review: the Curated flag is a property of the project record, not of its visibility state. Platforms commonly keep editorial metadata intact when visibility changes, so the badge is likely retained in the backend even after the project is moved to Password Protected. What changes is discoverability: the project is typically removed from public listings, curated galleries, and search results for unauthenticated users. Direct access via a known URL will still resolve, but will require the password if the project is set to Password Protected. This means the badge can persist internally while being hidden from public presentation.
Search index and gallery update timing
Confirmed fact: changing visibility via the project settings updates the access control immediately for the owner.
Likely explanation, marked for review: search index and curated gallery placements are updated asynchronously. After the toggle, the project is expected to become undiscoverable to non-authorized users, but eventual consistency means a short lag can occur before the change is reflected across search, recommendations, and curated collections. There is no public SLA for that propagation.
Practical verification steps for this case
- Open the project in an incognito/private window without signing in. Confirm the password prompt appears and the Curated badge is not visible to unauthenticated viewers.
- Check a direct curated gallery URL if you know it. Note whether the project is still listed or returns an access restriction.
- Search Behance for the project title from an unauthenticated session. Expect the project to drop out of results after propagation.
One missing diagnostic detail that changes the recommendation: whether you need the Curated badge to remain visible to clients who have the password. If the client must see the badge, verify the badge renders on the password-protected view after the change. If the badge is required for public discovery, Password Protected will suppress that discovery regardless of backend retention.
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