WooCommerce: Exclude Category from Search Results

We’ve already seen how to only display products from a single category on the Shop page. Today, we’ll do something similar, but we’ll target the search result.

Code is somewhat similar to the example I linked to above, so it will use once again the “pre_get_posts” filter in order to modify the query before products are returned on the screen. Enjoy!

PHP Snippet: Exclude Products From a Given Category @ WooCommerce Search Result Page

/**
 * @snippet       Exclude Cat @ WooCommerce Product Search Results
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 6
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'bbloomer_exclude_category_woocommerce_search' );

function bbloomer_exclude_category_woocommerce_search( $q ) {
   if ( ! $q->is_main_query() ) return;
   if ( ! $q->is_search() ) return;
   if ( ! is_admin() ) {
      $q->set( 'tax_query', array( array(
         'taxonomy' => 'product_cat',
         'field' => 'slug',
         'terms' => array( 'courses' ), // change 'courses' with your cat slug/s
         'operator' => 'NOT IN'
      )));
   }
}

Related posts:

1. WooCommerce: Exclude Category from [product_categories] Shortcode
2. WooCommerce: Show Only 1 Category @ Shop Page
3. WooCommerce: Check if Product Category is in the Cart
4. WooCommerce: Product Category Price Range
5. WooCommerce: Split Shop Page By Category
6. WooCommerce: Display Product Categories @ Shop
7. WooCommerce: Search Orders By SKU @ Admin
8. WooCommerce: Search By Custom Field
9. WooCommerce: Alter Product Search @ Manual Admin Orders
10. WooCommerce: Get Product Parent Categories

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Where to add custom code?

You should place PHP snippets at the bottom of your child theme functions.php file and CSS at the bottom of its style.css file. Make sure you know what you are doing when editing such files - if you need more guidance, please take a look at my guide "Should I Add Custom Code Via WP Editor, FTP or Code Snippets?" and my video tutorial "Where to Place WooCommerce Customization?"

Does this snippet (still) work?

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Rodolfo Melogli

Business Bloomer Founder

Author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker, Rodolfo has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. Rodolfo loves travelling, chasing tennis & soccer balls and, of course, wood fired oven pizza.

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