How to Search Products by SKU in WooCommerce

If someone enters an SKU into your store’s search bar, you’d expect the exact product to appear instantly. In WooCommerce’s default setup, that doesn’t happen.

Out of the box, WooCommerce does not reliably include SKUs in front-end search. Even valid SKUs often return no results, frustrating customers who know exactly what they want.

Why SKU Search Matters More Than You Think

SKU search isn’t just a “nice to have” feature. For many stores, it’s one of the most efficient ways to locate products.

It’s especially useful for:

• Returning customers who already know the item they need
• Internal teams that need to locate products quickly
• Wholesale or B2B buyers who order using SKU lists
• Large catalogs where product names are similar or repetitive

Because SKUs are unique identifiers, they remove ambiguity. When someone searches by SKU, they’re expecting precision—not a list to browse through.

The Two Ways to Add SKU Search

To make SKU search work in WooCommerce, you generally have two options: modify the search behavior with custom code or use a search plugin.

Adjusting WooCommerce Search with Custom Code

It’s possible to extend WooCommerce’s search logic by modifying queries or using hooks like pre_get_posts.

With enough customization, you can:

• Include SKUs in search queries
• Prioritize exact matches
• Control how results are sorted

However, this approach comes with tradeoffs. It requires development experience, can conflict with themes or plugins, and often needs ongoing updates as your site evolves.

For most store owners, this is more effort than it’s worth.

Using a Search Plugin

A dedicated search plugin is usually the more reliable option. Instead of rewriting WooCommerce’s behavior, you’re replacing it with a system designed for product discovery.

With the right plugin, SKU search becomes just another searchable field.

For example, the Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce plugin lets you enable SKU search with a simple setting:

Afterward, a search for a specific SKU returns the exact product you’re looking for:

It will even compensate for small typos, such as the omission of the dash from “972-03″ to”97203”.

Best of all, it gives you complete control over the appearance of the search results and product previews using the same type of simple controls, with a live preview of your design efforts:

Bringing It All Together

WooCommerce doesn’t support SKU search by default, which can be a problem for stores that rely on precise product lookup.

While it’s technically possible to add this functionality through custom code, most store owners benefit more from using a dedicated search plugin. It simplifies setup, reduces maintenance, and provides better control over how results are returned.

There are several plugins that offer SKU search, but the key is choosing one that integrates it naturally into the overall search experience, as Elevated Product Search has done.

For other plugin options, see Best WooCommerce Product Search Plugins.