Product categories are one of the main ways to organize items in a WooCommerce store. However, they are not included in the default product search process.

In a standard WooCommerce setup, if a customer searches for a category name, products assigned to that category will not appear in the search results unless the category name also happens to be present in the product title or description fields.

Because of this limitation, many store owners look for ways to make product categories searchable.

Why Search by Product Category?

Including categories in search can:

• Help users find groups of related products
• Support more general search queries (e.g., “shoes” instead of a specific product name)
• Make navigation easier in stores with large inventories
• Align search behavior with how products are structured in the catalog

Categories often represent the primary way products are grouped, so incorporating them into search can make results feel more intuitive and complete.

Ways to Add Category-Based Search in WooCommerce

There are two main ways to include product categories in your search process:

Custom Code

You can modify the search query so that it also checks product categories when a user performs a search.

This allows you to:

• Include category terms in search matching
• Adjust how strongly category matches influence results
• Customize search behavior based on your store’s structure

However, this approach:

• Requires development knowledge
• May conflict with themes or other plugins
• Can require ongoing updates and maintenance

For many store owners, these requirements are too burdensome.

Using a Search Plugin

A plugin is often the preferred option for enabling category-based search.

Many search plugins let you:

• Include categories as part of searchable data
• Control how category matches affect relevance
• Combine category search with titles, attributes, and other fields
• Adjust settings without touching code

This approach makes including product categories in your search process quick and painless.

Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce

Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce lets you search by product categories simply by flipping a switch:

Once you do this, you can search by product categories the same way you search by other fields:

You can also include or exclude products from the search results based on specific categories.

Final Thoughts

Product categories play a central role in how WooCommerce stores are structured, but they are not part of the platform’s default product search behavior.

If you want category names to help drive search results, you will need to extend WooCommerce’s default search logic. This can be done with custom development or, more commonly, with a dedicated search plugin.

For most store owners, a plugin is the more practical route. It makes it easier to include categories in searchable fields, improve product discovery, and adjust search behavior without having to maintain custom code. Elevated Product Search for WooCommerce is an excellent example of such a plugin.

For other options, see 5 Best WooCommerce Product Search Plugins.