How to Search by Product Titles Only in WooCommerce

When customers search your WooCommerce store, they expect accurate, relevant results. However, in WooCommerce’s default setup, search doesn’t just look at product titles—it also scans product descriptions.

While this broader search can sometimes be helpful, it often retrieves irrelevant matches, especially if your product descriptions are long or contain overlapping keywords.

For store owners who want cleaner, more precise results, limiting search to product titles only can be a better approach.

Why Restrict Search to Product Titles?

Product titles are typically the most direct and intentional representation of what an item is. Unlike descriptions, they’re less likely to contain extra context, marketing language, or unrelated keywords.

Limiting product search to titles can help:

• Reduce irrelevant results caused by lengthy descriptions
• Improve accuracy for customers searching for specific product names
• Deliver a more predictable and consistent search experience
• Make large catalogs easier to navigate

In many cases, this removes unnecessary noise and helps users find products faster.

Why This Isn’t Available by Default

WooCommerce relies on WordPress’s native search system, which is designed to be broad rather than selective.

Out of the box, this means:

• Searches check both product titles and descriptions
• There’s no built-in option to limit which fields are searched
• You can’t adjust search precision without modifying behavior

Two Ways to Search by Product Titles Only

If you want to limit search results to product titles, there are two common paths: modifying the search query yourself or using a plugin built for advanced search control.

Customizing the Search Query

It’s possible to adjust WooCommerce search behavior by altering how WordPress builds its search queries. This is typically done using hooks like pre_get_posts or by filtering the underlying SQL.

With the right implementation, you can ensure that only product titles are considered during a search.

However, this approach comes with a few drawbacks:

• It requires familiarity with WordPress development
• It may conflict with themes or other plugins
• It needs to be maintained over time as your site evolves

For developers, this can be a viable solution, but for most store owners, it adds unnecessary complexity.

Using a WooCommerce Product Search Plugin

A more practical solution is to use a search plugin. Instead of modifying the default system, a plugin replaces it with a more flexible search engine that lets you specify exactly which fields get searched.

With the right plugin, you can:

• Restrict search to product titles only
• Exclude descriptions and other fields entirely
• Fine-tune how results are displayed

For example, the Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce plugin searches product titles only right out of the box:

To include other fields in the search process, you have to explicitly enable them in the Advanced Options section, as shown above. If you do not, your search will automatically be limited to product titles only:

The plugin also handles typos, spelling errors, singular and plural forms, along with related terms and synonyms.

You also have full control over how search results and product previews look, with a live preview of your changes:

Bringing It All Together

Limiting WooCommerce search to product titles can significantly improve result quality, particularly for stores with large inventories or detailed descriptions.

While it’s possible to implement this through custom code, most store owners will find that a plugin offers a faster, more reliable solution. It removes the need for ongoing maintenance and provides greater flexibility as your store grows.

There are several plugins that support this type of control, but the most effective ones allow you to quickly adjust the search scope without requiring technical expertise. Elevated Product Search does a good job of this.

For other plugins, see Best WooCommerce Product Search Plugins.