When a size or color sells out, you have three choices: hide it from the picker, show it crossed out and unselectable, or show it with a "notify me" signup. In our experience the crossed-out version is the right default for most stores. Hiding a value makes shoppers think you never carried it. Crossing it out tells them it exists and will be back.
3 approaches
- Hide. The sold-out value disappears from the picker. It's the cleanest look, and the right choice for items that are discontinued and won't come back.
- Strikethrough and disabled. The value stays visible but greyed out with a line through it, and can't be added to cart. Shoppers see the full range and know to check back.
- Notify me. The value is selectable, but the Add to cart button changes to a form that collects an email and sends one message when stock returns.
| Approach | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Hide | Discontinued colors, one-off runs | Shoppers assume the size never existed |
| Strikethrough | Core sizes and colors that restock | Too many crossed-out values look like an empty shop |
| Notify me | Best sellers with a known restock date | Needs an app or email flow, and follow-through |
Theme setting
Many current Shopify themes, including Dawn, already mark sold-out combinations in the picker with a crossed-out or faded style. Some third-party themes add a setting in the theme editor to hide unavailable values instead. Open your theme editor, select the product template and look under the variant picker block for anything labelled unavailable or sold-out variants.
How the picker decides what's "unavailable" depends on your inventory settings. A variant only shows as sold out if Shopify tracks its quantity, the quantity is zero, and "Continue selling when out of stock" is off. Our guide to the Shopify variant picker explains the logic in more detail.
Custom code
If your theme has no setting, a developer can add a small change to the variant picker snippet. The usual approach is to add a class such as sold-out to any value whose variant isn't available, then style it with a strikethrough, lower opacity and a "not allowed" cursor. Add a title attribute like "Sold out, notify me" so the reason shows on hover and to screen readers.
To hide instead, the same class can set the value to hidden. Test on a duplicate theme first, and check combinations: on a product with Size and Color, "Medium" might be sold out in Navy but in stock in Black, so the picker has to update as the shopper changes color.
Notify-me integration
Shopify doesn't send back-in-stock emails on its own. You'll need a back-in-stock app or an email platform flow. Klaviyo, for example, has a back-in-stock flow that adds a signup form to sold-out variants and emails the list when inventory goes above zero. Our notes on connecting product options to Klaviyo cover how to segment those lists.
If you know the restock date, consider taking orders now instead. Our guides to preorder options and backorder options show how to keep selling while making the ship date clear.
Personalized and print-on-demand products
Made-to-order items rarely run out. A POD tumbler is printed after the order comes in, so the variant should never show as sold out unless your partner stops offering that blank. Most POD integrations either don't track inventory or keep it synced from the partner. If a POD product suddenly shows crossed-out sizes, check whether inventory tracking was switched on by mistake.
For personalized products, the personalization itself never sells out. If you run the name, font and photo through Print It My Way fields instead of variants, only the physical choices (size, color) carry stock, so far fewer values can ever show as sold out.
Low stock before sold out
Showing "Only 3 left" on a nearly sold-out size can help shoppers decide, as long as it's true. Keep the message for genuinely low counts and drop it when stock is healthy. Our guide to showing inventory per variant covers the theme settings, and you can pair it with low-stock alerts so you reorder before anything crosses out.
Frequently asked questions
Should sold-out Shopify variants be hidden?
Usually not. Crossing out a sold-out value tells shoppers it exists and will return, while hiding it makes them think you never stocked it. Hide only values that are discontinued.
How to hide sold-out variants on Shopify?
Check your theme editor for an unavailable-variants setting under the variant picker block. If there isn't one, a developer can add a class to sold-out values in the picker snippet and hide them with CSS.
How to add strikethrough to sold-out variants?
Many themes, including Dawn, already cross out sold-out combinations. Otherwise, add a sold-out class to unavailable values and style it with text-decoration: line-through and lower opacity.
How to add notify-me for sold-out?
Use a back-in-stock app or an email platform flow such as Klaviyo's back-in-stock feature. The shopper leaves an email on the sold-out variant and gets one message when it restocks.
Does hiding sold-out affect SEO?
Very little. The product page and its canonical URL stay the same, so rankings are tied to the product rather than to one variant.
Show 'Only 3 left' vs hide count?
Show the count only when stock is genuinely low, and hide it when you have plenty. A real low-stock note helps people decide; a permanent one stops being believed.
How to handle sold-out for POD (unlimited stock)?
Turn off inventory tracking or let your POD integration manage it, so the variant never shows as sold out. It should only become unavailable if your partner stops offering that blank.
Related reading
Sources & further reading
Primary sources referenced in this article. We link to official platform documentation and standards bodies rather than secondary summaries so you can verify claims directly.
- Shopify Help Center: Product variants
- Shopify.dev: Product variant limits
- Shopify Help Center: Line item properties (customization)
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