Welcome! This guide will help you start using Search Exclude in just a few minutes. Follow these steps to control what appears in your WordPress site’s search results.

Step 1: Activate the Plugin

After installing Search Exclude, go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and click Activate.

Once activated, the plugin is ready to use—no additional configuration is required.

Activate the plugin from your WordPress dashboard

Step 2: Exclude Your First Post or Page

1. Go to Posts → All Posts (or Pages → All Pages).
   
2. Click on the post or page you want to edit.
   
3. In the right sidebar, locate the “Exclude from Search Results” checkbox
   (in the Classic Editor, this appears below the editor).
   
4. Check the box.
   
5. Click Update or Publish to save your changes.

Edit Page

Quick Edit

Simply check the box to exclude any post or page

💡 Pro Tip: The checkbox is available in both the Block Editor (Gutenberg) and the Classic Editor!

Step 3: Exclude Multiple Items with Bulk Actions

To exclude several posts or pages at once:

1. Go to Posts → All Posts (or Pages).
   
2. Select the items you want to exclude.
   
3. From the Bulk actions dropdown, choose Hide from Search.
   
4. Click Apply.

To restore items, repeat the process and select Show in Search instead.

Exclude multiple items at once with bulk actions

Step 4: View All Excluded Items

To manage everything you’ve excluded:

1. Go to Settings → Search Exclude.
   
2. You’ll see a complete list of all excluded posts and pages.
   
3. Click any item to edit it or restore it to search results.
   
   This gives you a central place to manage excluded content.
   

This gives you a central place to manage excluded content.

Step 5: Test Your Search

Now it’s time to verify everything is working correctly:

1. Visit the front end of your website.
   
2. Use the search bar to look for excluded content.
   
3. Confirm that excluded items do not appear.
   
4. Search for other content to ensure normal search behavior still works.

ℹ️ Important: Search Exclude only affects your site’s internal WordPress search. It does not prevent search engines like Google from indexing your content.