To lock specific product categories, first make sure the Storewide Lock is disabled.
Then navigate to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard. Edit the category you want to hide and enable the Private Category option.
Once this is set, all products within that category will be hidden from users until they enter a valid password. This includes the category archive page and all product pages under that category.
You can still use the same global password system for unlocking access. There’s no need to assign different passwords per category.
This is useful for controlling access to wholesale, exclusive, or member-only products while keeping other parts of your store open to the public.