How to password protect a pitch deck

A pitch deck holds the numbers a startup is least keen to see passed around: revenue, burn, the round size, the cap table slide. Founders still need to send it to dozens of investors, many of whom forward it to a partner or an associate. Once a PDF is attached to an email, there’s no taking it back and no way to tell whether it was read.

This guide covers the usual ways founders protect a deck, and how to put a password on a deck in Fabric and send each investor a separate link so you can follow up with the ones who opened it.

How founders usually protect a pitch deck

The simplest approach is a PDF attachment, sometimes encrypted with a password in Acrobat or Preview. It’s quick, and investors are used to receiving decks this way. The password is fixed into that file, though, so every forwarded copy carries the same lock, and you learn nothing about whether it was opened.

Deck-sharing tools such as DocSend are popular for this reason. They put the deck behind a link, can require a passcode or an email address, and show page-by-page engagement. Plenty of founders use them through a raise. They’re also another subscription and another place to upload the latest version, separate from the folder where the deck, the model and the data room documents live.

A Google Slides or Drive link restricted to specific people is the third option. It keeps one live version, and you can update numbers without re-sending. Restricted links ask investors to sign in with a matching account, which tends to lead founders to open the link up to anyone who has it. How to know if an investor read your pitch deck goes deeper into the tracking side.

Step 1: Put the deck in its own folder

Create a folder for the raise and add the deck, whether it’s a PDF export or a PowerPoint file. Drag it in, click Upload a file, or save it into the Fabric drive from the desktop app. If the deck lives in Google Slides, a Google Drive connection brings it in through a two-way sync; connections need a paid plan.

Keeping the deck in a folder pays off later. When you publish the folder, editing what’s in it updates the published version, so a corrected traction slide or a new deck version reaches the same links you’ve already sent.

Step 2: Add a password

Right-click the folder (or the deck itself), or open it and click the three-dot menu, then choose Add password protection and enter a password. Password protection is on the Pro and Team plans.

Protecting the folder means the deck and anything you add to it later, such as a one-page memo or a financial model, sit behind the same password. Investors enter it once and have access for 6 hours before they’re asked again.

Save the password in your password manager. There’s no reset, and being locked out of your own deck in the middle of a raise is an avoidable problem.

Step 3: Create a named link for each investor

Click Share, open the Publish tab, and click Create link. Name the link after the person and firm, such as “Sarah, Sequoia”, and turn on collect engagement analytics. Leave indexing by search engines off, decide whether visitors can copy the deck to their own Fabric, and choose whether to allow downloads. Many founders leave downloads off for a first look and send a downloadable version later in diligence.

Repeat for each investor. You can create as many publish links as you want, each with its own name and settings, all pointing at the same protected deck. How to send a different tracking link to each recipient covers this pattern for other documents too, and the publish page explains what visitors see.

Send each investor their link, and send the password separately, for example in a short follow-up message.

Step 4: See which investors opened it

Each link gets its own chart of traffic over time, plus visit dates and the location and device of each visit. Link analytics are on the Pro and Team plans. Analytics don’t identify a visitor by name, which is why each investor gets their own link: if the “Sarah, Sequoia” link shows visits, you know that link has been opened.

Comparing the links shows who has opened the deck and who hasn’t, which is useful for deciding who to follow up with and when. A run of visits from a new city on one link can suggest it was passed to a colleague.

When a round closes, or an investor passes, you can change the password: enter the old one and choose a new one. Anyone still holding the old password is asked for the new one once their 6 hours of access run out, and you share it only with the people who still need the deck.

Later in the process, the same folder can grow into a data room with the model, incorporation documents and customer references, all under the same password. How to set up a data room for fundraising walks through that.

Frequently asked questions

How do I password protect a pitch deck before sending it to investors?

Upload the deck to Fabric, choose Add password protection from the right-click or three-dot menu, then publish it and send the link with the password in a separate message.

Can I see if an investor opened my deck?

Yes, if you give each investor their own named link with analytics turned on. Each link shows visits with dates, location and device.

Does the investor need a Fabric account to view the deck?

No. They open the link and enter the password.

Can I update the deck without sending new links?

Yes. Editing the source in Fabric updates the published version, so existing links show the latest content.

Should I use a PDF or PowerPoint file for my deck?

Either works in Fabric, which supports PDF and PPT/PPTX. A PDF keeps the layout fixed for every viewer, which is why many founders export one for investors.

Can I stop investors downloading my deck?

Yes. Allow downloads is a setting on each published link. Leave it off and visitors can view the deck without a download option.

Can I use my own domain for deck links?

Yes, on the Pro plan. Add a custom domain from the domain selector in the publish screen, then choose it when you create each link.

What plan do founders need for this?

Password protection and link analytics need Pro or Team, and custom domains need Pro. See pricing for current plans.