Learning how to Shopify hide product from search is essential for merchants who manage VIP items, private collections, test products, or link-only offers. In many cases, you want a product to remain live and fully purchasable, but you don’t want it to appear in your store’s internal search results. This guide explains the most reliable methods to hide products from Shopify search, and also provides an alternative solution if your real goal is simply to hide the product price rather than remove it from search visibility

Why Merchants Need to Shopify Hide Products From Search

There are many situations where a merchant wants to keep a product active, but not publicly discoverable through the search bar. For example, you may offer exclusive items for VIP customers, run private sales, test new products, create hidden bundles, or maintain internal-use products that shouldn’t appear in front of general shoppers. In these cases, using methods to shopify hide product from search helps keep your storefront clean, prevents confusion, and protects products meant only for specific audiences. Most importantly, the product remains accessible through a direct link, ensuring customers who are meant to see it can still purchase without any restrictions.

Method 1: Using the seo.hidden Metafield to Hide Product From Search on Shopify

One of the most commonly referenced methods to shopify hide product from search is by using the built-in metafield called seo.hidden. This approach is simple and does not require any coding, making it a popular choice among beginners.

How it works

You can create a metafield definition with:

• Namespace + key: seo.hidden
• Type: Integer
• Value: Set to 1 for any product you want to hide

Once applied, the product will no longer show up in your internal search results.

What you need to know

While this method successfully hides the product from Shopify’s search results, it also applies additional behaviors:

• The product is removed from your sitemap
• The product becomes noindexed and hidden from Google Search
• Some Shopify 2.0 themes may still show the product in predictive search

This makes the seo.hidden method suitable only when you are comfortable with the product being hidden from both internal search and external search engines.

Method 2: Create a Custom Metafield + Edit Theme Code

If you want full control — meaning you want to shopify hide product from search while still keeping the product indexed by Google — the most reliable solution is to use a custom metafield combined with a small edit to your theme’s search template.

Step 1: Create a Custom Metafield

Set up a new metafield for products:

• Namespace + key: custom.hide_from_search
• Type: Boolean (True/False)

Assign True to any product that should be excluded from internal search.

Step 2: Modify the Search Template

Next, edit either:

• search.liquid
  or
• predictive-search.liquid

Insert a conditional filter like:

{% unless item.product.metafields.custom.hide_from_search %}
   <!-- product display code -->
{% endunless %}

Why this method is the best

• It hides the product from only Shopify’s internal search
• It does not affect SEO or Google indexing
• It works consistently across all Shopify 2.0 themes
• It gives precise control over which items appear in search

If your goal is a clean, controlled way to shopify hide product from search without losing SEO value, this method is the top recommendation.

Method 3: Using Advanced Search Apps to Shopify Hide Product From Search

Another option to shopify hide product from search is to use a third-party search app that includes built-in filtering and exclusion controls. These tools give you more flexibility without requiring custom coding, making them ideal for merchants who prefer a plug-and-play solution.

Recommended search apps

Some popular apps that allow you to exclude specific products from search results include:

• Boost Product Filter & Search
• Rapid Search
• Searchanise

These apps typically provide dashboards where you can mark products as:

• “Hidden from search”
• “Excluded from instant search”
• “Excluded from full search results”

If You Only Want to Hide Prices Instead of Shopify Hide Product From Search

Some merchants confuse the need to shopify hide product from search with a completely different requirement: hiding the price of a product rather than hiding the product itself. If your real goal is to prevent customers from seeing prices until they log in, request a quote, or meet certain conditions, then you don’t need metafields or search filtering at all.

In this case, a dedicated price-hiding solution is more appropriate. A simple and effective option is the Madgic Hide Price app

What this app can do

• Hide product prices for guest users
• Show prices only to logged-in customers
• Replace “Add to Cart” with “Request a Quote”
• Build custom RFQ (Request for Quote) forms
• Support B2B and wholesale workflows
• Apply rules per product, per tag, or per customer group

Recommended for you

• Want to hide prices instead of removing products from search? Read the full guide on Shopify Hide Price for B2B and wholesale stores.
• Improve the user experience after hiding search results with Top 6 Best Shopify Checkout Apps in 2025 Reviews.
• Running private or VIP-only items? Explore The Best Delivery and Pickup Shopify Apps (2025) for customized fulfillment flows.
• Need tighter product visibility control? See The 10 Best Order Limit Shopify Apps for managing buyer access and shopping behavior.
• Looking to combine hidden items with urgency? Check out 7 Best Shopify Stock Counter Apps to Boost Sales (2025).
• Want more automation after hiding products? Learn from The Best AI Shopify Apps (2025 Guide).
• Using search apps instead of theme edits? Compare advanced tools in 6 Best Advertising Shopify Apps (2025) for better discovery and performance.