How To Remove Sidebar From Woocommerce Shop Page

How to Remove Sidebar from WooCommerce Shop Page: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome, fellow WooCommerce store owners! Having a beautifully designed online store is crucial, and sometimes that means customizing the layout to perfectly match your brand. One common customization is removing the sidebar from your WooCommerce shop page. Maybe you think it’s cluttering the design, distracting customers, or just not fitting the overall aesthetic. Don’t worry; it’s a relatively simple process, and this guide will walk you through it step-by-step, even if you’re a complete beginner.

Think of the sidebar as the extra shelf in your physical store. Sometimes it’s useful for displaying promotions or related items, but other times, it just takes up valuable space that could be used to showcase your main products. Removing it can create a cleaner, more focused shopping experience.

Why Remove the Sidebar?

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s quickly consider why you might want to remove the sidebar from your WooCommerce shop page:

• Cleaner Design: A full-width layout can provide a more modern and streamlined look, especially on mobile devices where screen real estate is precious. Imagine browsing a minimalist fashion website; a cluttered sidebar might detract from the high-end aesthetic.
• Improved Conversion Rates: Removing distractions like social media links or less relevant categories can help customers focus on the products they want to buy, potentially increasing sales. Less “noise” means more attention on the products!
• Better Product Display: Without the sidebar, your product grid can expand, allowing you to display larger product images and provide a more visually appealing browsing experience. Bigger images are more engaging!
• Specific Theme Requirements: Some themes are simply designed to look better without a sidebar on the shop page.

Methods for Removing the Sidebar

Here are a few methods you can use to remove the sidebar. We’ll start with the easiest and move to the slightly more technical:

#### 1. Using Theme Options (The Easiest Way!)

Many modern WooCommerce themes provide built-in options to customize the layout of your shop page, including the ability to remove the sidebar. This is the recommended approach as it’s the safest and simplest.

* How to check:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard: `Appearance > Customize`.

2. Look for sections like “Layout,” “Shop,” “WooCommerce,” or something similar. The exact wording will depend on your theme.

3. Within these sections, you should find an option to select a “full-width” layout or disable the sidebar on the shop page.

For example, the popular Astra theme has settings under `Appearance > Customize > WooCommerce > Product Catalog` where you can choose “No Sidebar” for the “Sidebar Layout.”

This is typically the easiest option, so check your theme’s documentation or customization options first.

#### 2. Using a Page Builder (If your theme uses one)

If your theme integrates with a page builder like Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Divi, you can often create a custom shop page template without a sidebar.

* How to:

1. Create a new page in WordPress: `Pages > Add New`.

2. Use your page builder to design a shop page template. Most page builders have WooCommerce widgets or modules that allow you to display your products.

3. Crucially, make sure the layout is set to full width or doesn’t include a sidebar column.

4. Go to `WooCommerce > Settings > Products` and in the “Shop Page” dropdown, select the page you just created.

Important: This method *replaces* the default WooCommerce shop page. Make sure you understand how your page builder works and test thoroughly.

#### 3. Custom Code: Using `functions.php` (For the More Technically Inclined)

If your theme doesn’t provide built-in options, you can use code snippets to remove the sidebar. This method requires caution as incorrect code can break your website. Always back up your site before making any code changes!

The core concept is to unhook (remove) the sidebar action from the `woocommerce_sidebar` hook specifically on the shop page.

* How to:

1. Access your theme’s `functions.php` file. You can do this through `Appearance > Theme Editor` in your WordPress dashboard, *or* by using an FTP client to access your website files. Using an FTP client is generally safer, as it allows you to revert changes if something goes wrong.

2. Add the following code snippet to the bottom of your `functions.php` file:

function remove_woo_sidebar() {
if ( is_shop() ) {
remove_action( 'woocommerce_sidebar', 'woocommerce_get_sidebar', 10 );
}
}
add_action( 'wp', 'remove_woo_sidebar' );

Explanation:

• `remove_woo_sidebar()`: This is the name of the function we’re creating.
• `if ( is_shop() )`: This checks if we are on the WooCommerce shop page. This is crucial; otherwise, you might remove sidebars from other parts of your website. `is_shop()` is a WordPress conditional tag that checks if the current page is the main shop archive.
• `remove_action( ‘woocommerce_sidebar’, ‘woocommerce_get_sidebar’, 10 )`: This line removes the function that displays the sidebar from the `woocommerce_sidebar` hook. `’woocommerce_sidebar’` is the hook, `’woocommerce_get_sidebar’` is the function being called, and `10` is the priority.
• `add_action( ‘wp’, ‘remove_woo_sidebar’ )`: This adds our `remove_woo_sidebar` function to the `wp` hook, which runs early in WordPress’s loading process.

3. Save the `functions.php` file.

4. Visit your shop page and see if the sidebar is gone.

Important Considerations:

• Child Themes: It’s *highly recommended* to use a child theme when making code modifications. This prevents your changes from being overwritten when the parent theme is updated. Think of it as a safe sandbox for your customizations.
• Testing: After adding the code, test your website thoroughly to ensure everything is working correctly. Check other pages to make sure you haven’t accidentally removed sidebars from other areas.
• Alternative Conditional Tags: If `is_shop()` doesn’t work (which can happen in some cases), you can try using `is_product_category()` or other WooCommerce conditional tags to target the removal of the sidebar more specifically. Consult the WooCommerce documentation for a full list of conditional tags.

#### 4. CSS (Use as a Last Resort)

While not the *best* solution, you *could* technically hide the sidebar using CSS. However, this doesn’t actually remove the sidebar content from the page; it just hides it. This is less efficient and can affect page loading speed.

* How to:

1. Go to `Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS`.

2. Add CSS code to hide the sidebar. The exact CSS selector will depend on your theme, but something like this might work:

.woocommerce #sidebar {

display: none !important;

}

.woocommerce #content { /* Adjust the content width */

width: 100% !important;

}

Explanation:

• `.woocommerce #sidebar`: This targets the sidebar element within the WooCommerce context. Inspect your page with your browser’s developer tools to find the correct CSS selector.
• `display: none !important;`: This hides the sidebar element. `!important` ensures that this rule overrides any other conflicting styles.
• The second part of code adjust main area of content to take all space.

Why this is not ideal:

• The sidebar’s HTML code is still loaded, even though it’s hidden, which affects performance.
• It’s less reliable than other methods, as CSS selectors can change with theme updates.

Conclusion

Removing the sidebar from your WooCommerce shop page is a straightforward way to enhance your store’s design and improve the user experience. Start by exploring your theme’s built-in options. If that doesn’t work, try using a page builder or, as a last resort, custom code. Remember to back up your website before making any code changes and always test thoroughly. Good luck, and happy selling!