How to hide a product on Shopify: Unlisted, seo.hidden, or noindex
“Hide a product” can mean three different things on Shopify: hide it from everyone except people with the link, hide it from search engines and your store search, or hide it from Google only. Pick the method that matches what you want.
Option 1: Unlisted status — only people with the link
Set the product’s status to Unlisted when you want it discoverable only by direct URL — a private offer, a wholesale item, a custom order for one customer.
Shopify says an unlisted product is hidden from:
- internet search and your store’s sitemap;
- Shopify Catalog;
- your store’s search, collections and product recommendations.
Unlisted products can’t be published to Shop. Anyone you send the link to can still open the page.
Option 2: the seo.hidden metafield — off search engines and store search
To keep a product in your collections but out of search engines, the sitemap and your online store search, use the seo.hidden metafield:
- Go to Settings → Metafields and metaobjects.
- Add a definition for Products (or Pages, or Blog posts) with namespace and key
seo.hidden, type Integer, maximum value 1. - Open the product, set SEO Hidden to 1, and save.
To show it again, clear the value and save.
Option 3: a noindex tag — off Google only
A noindex meta tag hides the page from search engines but keeps it visible in your storefront search. Shopify’s method is to edit theme.liquid and add a noindex tag inside <head>, wrapped in a condition that matches the page’s handle. Only do this if you’re comfortable editing theme code.
What about robots.txt?
Every Shopify store already has an optimized robots.txt template. Shopify advises not changing it unless you have a specific reason.
Hidden by accident?
If a product you want customers to find doesn’t appear in your collections, check whether it was set to Unlisted — then see Shopify product not showing in collection. If it’s missing from Google entirely, see Shopify store not showing on Google.