Ever found yourself staring at your Shopify store's collection pages, wishing you could tweak just one little thing? Maybe those "Sort by" options feel a bit cluttered, or some just don't make sense for your unique products. Perhaps "Most Relevant" or "Date, old to new" just aren't serving your customers, and you'd rather keep things streamlined.
That's exactly what caught my eye in a recent community discussion where store owner Elizabet (ejonesss) was looking to clean up her Prestige theme. She was running Prestige 9.3.0 (later clarified to 10.3.0) and wanted to remove several default "Sort by" options like "Most Relevant," "Best Selling," and the various alphabetical and date sorts.
The Initial Approach: Editing Theme Content
When you want to change labels or hide simple text in Shopify, the first place many experts (including myself!) usually point to is the theme's language editor. It's the safest, no-code way to make minor text adjustments.
How to Try the Language Editor Method:
From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
Find your Prestige theme, click the "..." (Actions) button, and select Edit default theme content.
In the search bar, type "sort."
You'll see a list of collection sorting labels. For each option you want to hide, replace its text with a single blank space, then save your changes. Don't leave it completely empty, as that sometimes doesn't register.
This method was suggested by WebsiteDeveloper and efegokdemir early in the thread. It's fantastic when it works, as it avoids touching any code. However, as Elizabet discovered, sometimes this approach doesn't quite stick, especially with specific theme versions or other conflicting settings. For her, even with careful application, the options were still showing.
When the Easy Way Isn't Enough: Diving into Code
When the language editor doesn't do the trick, it's time to roll up our sleeves and look at the code. This is where the community really stepped up, offering a couple of robust alternatives.
Solution 1: The Quick CSS Fix (Visual Hiding)
Moeed, another helpful community member, jumped in with a direct CSS solution. This method doesn't remove the options from the HTML entirely, but it visually hides them from your customers. It's often the fastest way to get the job done, and it proved to be the perfect fix for Elizabet!
Steps for the CSS Solution:
Go to Online Store > Themes.
Click the "..." (Actions) button next to your Prestige theme, and select Edit code.
Find the theme.liquid file in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the very bottom of the file and add the following code just above the
tag:
This code targets the specific "Sort by" button values and applies display: none !important; to them, making them disappear from view. Moeed even shared a screenshot of the result, which looked exactly like what Elizabet wanted:
Elizabet confirmed this worked perfectly for her, which is always great to see in the community!
Solution 2: The Robust Liquid Approach (True Removal)
For those who prefer a cleaner, more robust solution that actually removes the options from the page's HTML, the Liquid code approach is the way to go. This was suggested by devcoders and elaborated on by efegokdemir. It involves modifying the Liquid loop that generates the sort options.
Steps for the Liquid Solution:
Duplicate your theme first! This is crucial. Always have a backup before editing core theme files.
Go to Online Store > Themes.
Click the "..." (Actions) button next to your theme, and select Edit code.
Use the code search (usually a magnifying glass icon) and look for collection.sort_options.
You'll likely find a loop similar to {% for sort_option in collection.sort_options %} within files like snippets/facets.liquid or snippets/collection-toolbar.liquid (the exact file might vary).
Add the following code immediately before the loop:
The completed section should look something like this:
{%- assign hidden_sort_values = 'most-relevant,best-selling,title-ascending,title-descending,created-ascending,created-descending' | split: ',' -%}
{%- for sort_option in collection.sort_options -%}
{%- if hidden_sort_values contains sort_option.value -%}
{%- continue -%}
{%- endif -%}
{%- endfor -%}
This code creates a list of sort option values you want to hide. Then, inside the loop, it checks if the current sort_option.value is in your hidden list. If it is, {% continue %} tells Liquid to skip that option and move to the next, effectively preventing it from being rendered on the page.
A quick note: If your loop uses option instead of sort_option, remember to change sort_option.value to option.value in the code snippets. Also, be sure to check if the search returns more than one collection.sort_options loop. You'll want to apply this change to all of them to ensure the options are hidden consistently across both desktop and mobile sorting menus.
Which Solution is Right for You?
As you can see, there isn't always a single "right" answer in the world of Shopify customization. The "Edit default theme content" method is ideal for simple text changes and should always be your first stop if you're code-averse.
When that doesn't work, the CSS solution (Moeed's method) is a fantastic quick fix for visual hiding. It's less intrusive than Liquid and worked perfectly for Elizabet.
For those who want a truly clean implementation where the unwanted options are removed from the page's source code entirely, the Liquid modification is the way to go. It requires a bit more comfort with code but offers a more robust solution.
No matter which path you choose, remember to always duplicate your theme before making any code changes. It's a simple step that can save you a lot of headaches if something goes awry.
It's these kinds of real-world problems and the collaborative spirit of the Shopify community that make running an online store so much more manageable and, dare I say, fun! A huge shoutout to ejonesss for raising the question and to WebsiteDeveloper, efegokdemir, Moeed, and devcoders for sharing their valuable expertise.
Share:
Start with the tools
Explore migration tools
See options, compare methods, and pick the path that fits your store.
