How to Hide Out-of-Stock Products in WooCommerce

Running a WooCommerce store requires efficient inventory management. Out-of-stock products can frustrate customers and damage your brand reputation. Fortunately, WooCommerce offers several ways to hide out-of-stock products from your shop, improving the customer experience and streamlining your online store. This article will guide you through the various methods, helping you choose the best approach for your specific needs.

Hiding Out-of-Stock Products: Your Options

WooCommerce provides a few different ways to manage the visibility of out-of-stock items. The best method depends on whether you want to completely remove them from the shop or simply alter their display.

1. Using WooCommerce’s Built-in Setting

The simplest method is Explore this article on How To Custom Order Products In Woocommerce to utilize WooCommerce’s built-in setting. This option allows you to control the visibility of out-of-stock items across your entire store.

• Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory.
• Under “Out of stock visibility,” select “Hide out of stock items from the catalog.”

Save changes.

This will immediately remove all out-of-stock products from your shop’s product pages, category pages, and search results. This is the quickest and easiest method, ideal for those who want a simple, store-wide solution.

2. Using a WooCommerce Plugin

For more granular control, several plugins offer advanced features to manage out-of-stock products. These plugins often provide additional functionalities like:

• Customizing the out-of-stock message: Display a more engaging message instead of a generic “Out of stock” notice.

Allowing backorders: Let customers pre-order out-of-stock items.

Showing a “Notify me” button: Enable customers to receive email notifications when the product is back in stock.

Hiding products based on specific criteria: Target specific products or categories for hiding.

Popular plugins include: “WooCommerce Back in Stock Notifications” and “Pre-orders for WooCommerce”. Always research and choose a reputable plugin with positive reviews.

3. Manually Hiding Products

You can individually hide out-of-stock products by editing each product’s settings. This is time-consuming for a large inventory but offers precise control.

• Go to Products > All Products.

Select the out-of-stock product you wish to hide.

Edit the product.

Under the “Inventory” tab, set the “Enable” option to “No“.

Save changes.

This method completely removes the product from your website, making it inaccessible to customers.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Method

The best method for hiding out-of-stock products in WooCommerce depends on your specific needs and technical expertise. For a simple, store-wide solution, the built-in setting is ideal. For more control and features, consider a dedicated plugin. Manual hiding offers the most precise control but is only practical for smaller inventories. Remember to regularly update your inventory to maintain an accurate and efficient online store.