What Is the Disable Product Reviews feature?
WooCommerce’s built-in review system allows customers to leave star ratings and text reviews on products. This feature completely suppresses the review system:
- The “Reviews” tab on single product pages is hidden
- The review submission form is removed
- Existing reviews are no longer displayed on the front-end
- The “Verified owner” review label is hidden
The raw review data (post type review) is preserved in the database. Disabling the display does not delete the data.
Why You Need It
Most stores benefit from reviews, but some use cases don’t:
- B2B / wholesale: Reviews are for B2C, not for B2B
- Service businesses: The product page is for showcasing the service, not for reviews
- Digital products: Reviews of digital products (e.g., “great PDF!”) are low-value
- Curated catalogs: Stores that curate products (rather than sell them) don’t need reviews
- Spam reduction: Removing the review form eliminates a major spam entry point
For most consumer e-commerce stores, leave reviews enabled. For other business models, this feature simplifies the product page.
How to Disable Product Reviews in WordPress
Step 1: Navigate to Settings
Click into the Classic Monks plugin settings in your WordPress dashboard.
Step 2: Go to the WooCommerce Tab
Click on the WooCommerce menu, then click the Single Product subtab.
Step 3: Enable Disable Product Reviews
Scroll to Disable Product Reviews and toggle on.
Step 4: Save Changes
Click Save Changes.
Step 5: Test
Visit any product on the front-end. The Reviews tab should not appear. The review submission form should not be visible.
Configuration Options
| Option | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Disable Product Reviews | Master toggle. | Off |
No nested options.
What Gets Affected
| Element | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews tab on product page | Visible | Hidden |
| Review submission form | Visible | Hidden |
| Existing review displays | Visible | Hidden |
| Star ratings in product meta | Visible | Hidden |
| Review count in product loop | Visible | Hidden |
| Admin > WooCommerce > Reviews menu | Visible | Hidden |
| Reviews data in the database | Stored | Preserved (not deleted) |
What Does NOT Get Affected
- Existing review data in the database: not deleted
- Product reviews imported from other sources: still in the database
- The “Reviews” admin menu: hidden in the WP admin, but the data is preserved
- Comment system on regular WordPress posts: not affected (this is product reviews only)
Advanced Options (Developers)
This feature registers 1 WordPress hook in woocommerce-functions.php:
Actions:
initcallscm_disable_woocommerce_reviews()(Disables WooCommerce product reviews)
// Hooked in woocommerce-functions.php
add_action( 'init', 'cm_disable_woocommerce_reviews' );The feature modifies WooCommerce behavior by registering or removing hooks. Disabling it reverses those changes.
Troubleshooting
Reviews are still showing on the front-end
Cause: The toggle is off, or a caching plugin is serving the old page.
Fix: Verify the toggle is on. Clear all caching layers. The reviews display is server-side, so caching is the most common cause.
The Reviews tab is still visible in the admin
Cause: The Reviews admin menu is hidden when the toggle is on, but the toggle may not be applying to the admin menu.
Fix: Verify the toggle is on. Hard-refresh the admin page. If still visible, the admin menu filter may need to be added (this feature is integrated with the standard WooCommerce reviews admin).
Existing reviews are still showing as a count
Cause: The review count in the product loop is fetched from the database. Disabling the toggle hides the form and display, but the count is still calculated.
Fix: If you want the count to also be hidden, disable the reviews count display in the plugin settings under WooCommerce.
I want to re-enable reviews for a specific product
Cause: The toggle is site-wide, not per-product.
Fix: Disable the toggle and use a different mechanism to hide reviews on specific products. Or use the woocommerce_product_reviews_enabled filter (see Advanced Options).