Keep Your Store Clean & Conversion-Ready with WooCommerce Hide Out-of-Stock Products

A web store full of products that are out of stock may aggravate the customer, break trust, and decrease conversion rates. The ability to Woocommerce hide out of stock products is therefore more than cosmetic; it's strategic. The Sort | Hide Out of Stock plugin for WooCommerce offers advanced control over visibility, sorting, redirects, and automation. By deploying it, you get to show your customers a refined storefront with only items they can actually buy.

In this article, you will learn:

Why You Should Hide Out of Stock Products WooCommerce

Capabilities of the Hide Out of Stock Products WooCommerce plugin

How to configure it effectively

Best practices, SEO impact, and pitfalls

FAQs and real-world use cases

Why hide out-of-stock products in WooCommerce?

Before diving into the plugin, it is important to understand why hiding out of stock items is so powerful:

Cleaner browsing experience

Shoppers are considerably less frustrated by dead ends or "sold out" labels when only available items are shown.

Better first impressions

A catalog without "Out of Stock" tags is more visually appealing, better maintained, and above all, more reliable.

Higher conversion likelihood
When users see only items that they can buy, leash their attention to positives, reducing bounce.

SEO benefit

With fewer dead pages indexed, search engines may prefer your live SKUs.
WooCommerce has a basic setting called “Out of Stock Visibility” under Settings → Products → Inventory which hides out-of-stock items from catalog views.

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But the built-in option lacks flexibility: it neither sorts out-of-stock items strategically nor supports redirection rules, role-based visibility, or auto-unhiding. That’s where Sort | Hide Out of Stock fits in.

What the Sort | Hide Out of Stock Plugin Does (and Why It’s Better)
The plugin expands the concept of hide out of stock WooCommerce into a full-featured toolkit. Among its highlighted features, the product page and documentation boast:
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Key Features
Automatic Hiding & Auto-Unhide

Out-of-stock products are hidden, and will automatically reappear if restocked.
Intelligent Sorting
Instead of just hiding, you can push out-of-stock items to the top or bottom of listings globally or by category.

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Role-Based Visibility Rules

You can decide that certain user roles (for example: logged-in customers, admin, members) see or don't see hidden items.
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Category/Tag Specific Hiding
You can apply hide rules only to specific categories or tags.
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Custom Redirects

If a user visits a hidden product URL, you can redirect the user to shop page, home page, or a custom URL.

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Stock Threshold Configuration

Define the number below which a product is considered “out of stock” - e.g. 0, or 1 - to trigger hiding.

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Out-of-Stock Report Dashboard

A dashboard listing of hidden products allows you to monitor which items are hidden and act accordingly.

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These enhancements make this plugin a “complete solution” for WooCommerce Hide Out of Stock Products beyond the default toggle.

How to Configure Hide & Sort Behavior: Step-by-Step

Here's a walk-through based on the official documentation:

1. Install & Activate

Buy and install Sort | Hide Out of Stock plugin - subscription options $39/year or 2-year discount package

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Activate it through Plugins in WordPress.

2. Setup Hide Settings

Go to WooCommerce → Stock Management → Hide Out-of-Stock.

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Enable Storewide Hide to remove all out-of-stock items from your catalog.

Or selectively hide by Category or Tag.

Use User Role Visibility to determine which types of users view hidden items.

Use Redirect Options, so users who click on a hidden product are sent to your shop, homepage, or custom URL.
Set the Stock Threshold for when “out of stock” behavior is triggered.
3. Configure Sort Settings

Go to WooCommerce → Stock Management → Sort – Out of Stock.

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Choose Global Sort Order: default, out-of-stock first, out-of-stock last, ascending/descending by ID with out-of-stock pinned top or bottom.
Optionally, enable Category-Based Sorting to apply different rules per category.
Use the Sorting Preview tool to see the live results of your sort settings.
4. Monitor Hidden Products

Use the plugin's Out-of-Stock Report dashboard to check what's hidden, and manage restocks there.

Once set up, your store will respect the WooCommerce Hide Out of Stock Products logic dynamically: with sorting, hiding, redirects, and monitoring.

Best Practices & Tips for Using Hide/Sort Features

Use Redirects Wisely

If someone lands on a hidden product URL, avoid dead-ends by routing them to a relevant page or similar product.

Use Role-Based Logic

E.g., show hidden items to administrators or staff while customers see only in-stock products.

Set Smart Thresholds

If you're selling products in bundles or multiple stock units, be careful in choosing thresholds so that items aren't hidden prematurely.

Combine with "Back in Stock" Tools

Even for hidden items, it's worth considering waitlist or notification features where customers can request restock.

Test With Variable Products

Be aware: WooCommerce’s default setting to “Hide out-of-stock items” will not work for variable products if even one of the variations is in stock.

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The Sort | Hide plugin provides more control in such cases.

Clear Cache & Recount Terms

After setting hide/sort options, clear transients and recount category/product terms to avoid ghost listings.

Stack Overflow +2 Business Bloomer +2 SEO & Conversion Impact of Hiding Out-of-Stock Products Cleaner listings for search engines By hiding unavailable items, you reduce the possibility of the search engines indexing pages leading to nowhere. Better user dwell time Consumers are spending more time browsing through buyable items, a positive signal to search engines. Improved CTR Click-throughs become more meaningful when only relevant products are shown. Reduced bounce rate Frustrated users who immediately hit “sold out” leave; hiding those products helps avoid that. Conversion uplift By removing "dead leads" from the catalog, you are guiding more of the visitors to actual, purchaseable items. In a nutshell, a polished method of hiding out-of-stock WooCommerce behavior will improve user experience and SEO metrics. FAQs Q1: Will this plugin hide out-of-stock items automatically? Yes, the Hide Out of Stock Products WooCommerce plugin will automatically hide items when they hit your defined threshold and unhide them when the item is restocked, once set up. Q2: Are the out-of-stock products removed forever? No — they are just hidden. The plugin supports auto-unhide, so they return when inventory is replenished. Q3: Can I reroute users who click on hidden product links? Yes, you can redirect them to the shop page, homepage, or any custom URL according to your preference. Q4: Does it support role-based visibility? Absolutely. You can choose which user roles see the hidden items: admin, logged-in and guest. Q5: Will this work with variable products? Yes. Because the plugin offers more advanced control than default WooCommerce settings, it handles variable products more reliably than basic hide toggles. But always test thorough variations. Q6: Does hiding out-of-stock products hurt SEO? Generally no. Hidden pages are less likely to be indexed, which is better than having pages that disappoint users and bounce. Q7: How much does this plugin cost? Pricing, according to the product page, stands at $39/year for a one-year plan or a discounted 2-year plan (~$62.40). WooCommerce Q8: Can I hide by category or tag? Yes - you can apply hide rules per category or tag so that some sections of your store hide out-of-stock items while others don't. Q9: Must I edit any code? No. Everything can be set from within the WordPress administrative area. No need to code. Q10: Does it slow down my site? It's meant to be efficient and uses logic for sorting/hiding without heavy overhead. That being said, always test on staging, and combine with caching for smooth performance.