disable product category feature
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I do not want to use Product Categories at all on my site. How do I remove or disable the feature?
I removed this feature about 7 years ago but I’ve just completely rebuilt the site and Product Categories has reappeared. I can’t remember how I did it all those years ago but I know it can be done. I can see several possible places to start (like Settings/permalinks, Products/categories…) but not sure which one works best or how to do it.
I also recall that this can be done somehow through Yoast but perhaps that’s a jumbled memory 🙂 Thanks Chris
The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for reaching out! To assist you better could you please clarify where exactly you’d like to remove or hide Product Categories?
For example, do you want to:
- Hide categories from the frontend/shop pages (so customers don’t see them)?
- Remove the Product → Categories option from the WordPress admin?
- Disable category archive URLs (SEO/indexing)?
- Or prevent categories from being used at all when creating products?
Product Categories are a core part of WooCommerce, so they can’t be fully disabled via a single setting, but depending on what you’re trying to achieve, there are different approaches we can recommend.
Once we know your goal, we’ll be happy to point you to the best solution.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I’d like to, at a minimum, remove them so customers don’t see them. The nature of our products is that we want customers to see products in a structured form so we have created pages that we direct customers to. Therefore categories
serve no use with the way we have set our site up. I understand the constraints you have mentioned but my answer to your question is probably best as ‘all of the above’. I hope this answers your question. Cheers Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the clarification, that helps a lot.
Since WooCommerce Product Categories are part of the core structure, they can’t be completely removed via a single toggle, but you can effectively hide and de‑emphasize them in several ways so customers never really interact with them:
- Hide categories from the frontend/shop pages
- If your theme shows product categories on the main Shop page or elsewhere (e.g., as tiles or in sidebars), you can usually:
- Disable “Show categories” in the Customizer or theme options (often under Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce or similar, depending on the theme), or
- Remove any “Product Categories” widgets from Appearance → Widgets.
- If you share your theme name (and a link to a page where categories appear), we can point you to the exact setting or a small CSS snippet to hide them.
- If your theme shows product categories on the main Shop page or elsewhere (e.g., as tiles or in sidebars), you can usually:
- Avoid using categories when creating products
- When adding or editing products, simply leave the “Product categories” box empty, and rely on your custom pages and menus instead.
- Products do not need categories to function; they can still be displayed on your own structured pages via shortcodes, blocks, or custom links
If that does not work, could you please share the URL of the page where you would like to hide the categories? This will help us provide further assistance accordingly.
Hi, I’ve tested the options you suggested but still no luck.
- These is no ‘show categories’ from the customizer of Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce
In fact, I have looked at every option in every item within Appearance and I cannot even find any mention of categories. - However I did find Categories in the Left Sidebar under the Widgets section in Appearance. (I tried to post a screenshot here to show you but the screenshot would not load to this post)
but even after I deleted them all, I was still getting my links taking me to product categories. - My theme is OceanWP
By way of example, on my homepage at http://www.lekite.com.au I have set a link from ‘Windsocks’ to be https://lekite.com.au/windsocks , a page I created that shows windsocks. But if you click on the windsocks link, it takes you to https://lekite.com.au/product-category/windsocks/ .
This happens with all for of the buttons/links on that same row. Windsocks, Banners & Flags, Spares, Secondhand Kites.
Note that it does not happen (thankfully) with the 3 main links above this row. The links to ‘Kites for Kids’, ‘Dual control kites’ and ‘Kits for Teachers and Schools’ all work as intended. - Re your: Avoid using categories when creating products. suggestion.
As a test, I have edited every items in the category of ‘windsocks’ to untick all boxes under categories in the edit section. Noe, when I click on the link button from the home page it still takes me to Home>>Products>>Windsocks but shows no items in the lists. So to ” leave the “Product categories” box empty” as you suggested doesn’t seem to work for me either.
I hope I have given you everything you need as answers to your questions and suggestions. Thanks again
Just a thought,
Is it [possible that I need to do 2 of the above things in unison?
In other words, 1. Edit each product to leave the categories box empty and 2. Delete the Categories section from the Left Side Widget?Just tried that but it made no difference.
Hi there,
Thank you for providing more details about the issue and for sharing the link.
I’ve checked this on your site, and I can see that on your homepage the Windsock link is currently set to:
https://lekite.com.au/product-category/windsocks/
This is why it takes users to the product category page when clicked, instead of directing them to the intended page:
https://lekite.com.au/windsocks/
Here is a screenshot showing that the correct link has not been added yet:
https://go.screenpal.com/watch/cOeDjOnZd2YYou’ll need to edit the homepage and replace the existing link with the correct URL. Once updated, clicking on Windsocks should take users to the correct page.
Is it [possible that I need to do 2 of the above things in unison?
In other words, 1. Edit each product to leave the categories box empty and 2. Delete the Categories section from the Left Side Widget?You do not need to remove the category from the sidebar to fix this issue. You just need to replace the incorrect link with the correct one.
Can you tell me how I can send you a screenshot so I can show you that I have set the link to https://lekite.com.au/windsocks as I stated somewhere above. It defaults to https://lekite.com.au/product-category/windsocks/, as you say, but all by itself. Even though the screenshot will show you that the link is still set to https://lekite.com.au/windsocks . I know this sounds crazy which is why I’d love to show you the screenshot. Cheers
Hi there!
Thank you for the update. You can use one of the following tools to share the screenshot:https://snipboard.io
http://skitch.com/
http://getcloudapp.com/
http://awesomescreenshot.com/Hi, I worked it out in Imgur so I hope this works.
Here is the link. https://imgur.com/a/7bEohrS
As you can see, it’s set to https://lekite.com.au/windsocks but as soon as you look at the live link, either in a address bar or in Inspect as you did, it shows and directs to lekite.com.au/product-category/windsocks/. I know I must be doing something basic wrong here but I have no idea what! Cheers
ps There is a / after windsocks in the link, I just didn’t pick it up in my copy.Hi there,
Thank you for sharing the screenshot it really helps to see what’s happening.
To assist you further, could you please confirm are you using any third-party page builder for this section? Based on the behavior you’re seeing, I’m suspecting that a block from a page builder is being used to display this content. In many cases, these blocks automatically link each column to the category page rather than a custom page, and there might be a setting you’re missing that allows you to change the link.
If you are using a page builder, I would suggest reaching out to their support team and asking how to update the links for each column. If this section is part of your theme’s built-in functionality, you can contact the theme support team, and they should be able to guide you on how to change the link to your custom page.
Please let us know what they suggest, and we can help further if needed.
I’m using Stackable which is supposed to be based on Gutterberg blocks.
Is this considered to be a 3rd party page builder?
(This whole process was started to rebuild the site without Elementor which was giving us lots f problems.)While hear what you are saying, why does this not happen with the 3 links above it? I mentioned before that the links to Childrens Kites, Dual Control Kites and Kits for Teachers… all function as expected but are build exactly the same way. It’s very strange.
By the way, this section is not part of the OceanWP theme.
Hi there,
Thank you for clarifying that you’re using Stackable blocks. Just to confirm are you using the Stackable – Ultimate Gutenberg Blocks plugin? If so, this is considered a third-party plugin, even though it is based on Gutenberg blocks.
Currently, on the frontend, the link you added for Windsocks is not appearing as expected. Instead, it’s showing this URL: https://lekite.com.au/product-category/windsocks/
This is why clicking it takes you to the category page rather than your custom page.
Since this behavior is controlled by the plugin settings, I would suggest creating a ticket with Stackable support here:
https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stackable-ultimate-gutenberg-blocks/They will be able to guide you on the correct settings or steps to ensure your links point to your custom pages.
Hi Shahzeen,
Based on what you said:- I’m suspecting that a block from a page builder is being used to display this content. In many cases, these blocks automatically link each column to the category page rather than a custom page, and there might be a setting you’re missing that allows you to change the link.
I searched every setting in this block and compared them to the same settings in the block of 3 links above it (that function as normal) and at the very last setting I found one piece of code in Advanced>advanced>additional CSS class(es) that is called ‘catallclass’.
I suspect this is the culprit but, as you suggested, I have contacted Stackable to check this before I remove it.Great deductive reasoning on your part to find this so thank you very much for your help. I will let you know what Stackable says just so you can complete your ‘knowledge bank’ on this one.
Thanks again
Chris
Hi there,
Thank you for the update and I really appreciate you taking the time to investigate this so thoroughly.
I’m glad the earlier suggestion helped point you in the right direction 🙂. Please do keep me posted on what Stackable confirms it will indeed be helpful for future reference as well.
Before you go, If you found WooCommerce helpful in setting up your store, we would really appreciate it if you could leave a five-star review here: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/reviews/#new-post. Your feedback helps us improve and lets other users know how WooCommerce can support their business.
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