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How Do I Temporarily Disable WooCommerce?

Last updated on January 12, 2023 @ 12:20 pm

WooCommerce is a powerful eCommerce plugin that helps you turn your WordPress site into an online store. However, there may be times when you need to temporarily disable WooCommerce on your site.

For example, if you’re performing maintenance on your site or making changes to your WooCommerce settings.

In this article, we’ll show you how to temporarily disable WooCommerce on your WordPress site. We’ll also show you how to re-enable WooCommerce once you’re done.

How to Temporarily Disable WooCommerce

There are two ways to temporarily disable WooCommerce on your WordPress site. You can either use the built-in Maintenance Mode feature or disable the WooCommerce plugin.

Option 1: Use the Built-in Maintenance Mode Feature

WooCommerce comes with a built-in Maintenance Mode feature that allows you to disable your shop while you’re making changes. When Maintenance Mode is enabled, WooCommerce will display a notice on your shop pages letting visitors know that your shop is closed for maintenance.

To enable Maintenance Mode, go to WooCommerce > Settings > General. Then, scroll down to the “Maintenance Mode” section and check the box next to “Enable Maintenance Mode”. Once you’ve checked the box, click on the “Save Changes” button to save your changes.

Option 2: Disable the WooCommerce Plugin

If you don’t want to use Maintenance Mode, you can also disable the WooCommerce plugin. This will completely deactivate WooCommerce on your WordPress site.

To disable the WooCommerce plugin, go to your WordPress dashboard and click on “Plugins”. Then, find the “WooCommerce” plugin in the list of plugins and click on the “Deactivate” link.

Note: If you have a lot of products in your shop, we recommend using Maintenance Mode instead of disabling the plugin. This is because deactivating the plugin will delete all of your product data from your database.

PRO TIP: If you are considering temporarily disabling WooCommerce on your WordPress site, be aware that there are a few risks involved.

First, if you do not properly disable WooCommerce, your site may still be accessible to customers and orders may still be able to be placed. This could cause confusion and frustration for both you and your customers.

Second, if you have any active subscriptions, those will still remain active even if WooCommerce is disabled. This means that you will continue to be charged for those subscriptions even though your store is not operational.

Finally, if you have any automated emails set up through WooCommerce (such as order confirmation or shipping notifications), those will also continue to go out even when WooCommerce is disabled. This could again cause confusion for your customers.

For these reasons, it is important to make sure that you properly disable WooCommerce on your WordPress site before proceeding with any temporary shutdown of your store.

Morgan Bash

Morgan Bash

Technology enthusiast and Co-Founder of Women Coders SF.