Storefront filtering

Quickly help shoppers find what they want by setting up advanced, customizable storefront filters that work seamlessly with all modern theme features, including visual swatches, a variety of filter types, and full support for product variants and custom metafields.

Last updated 4 months ago

Helpful links

  1. https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/search-and-discovery/filters#visual-filters

  2. https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/custom-data/metafields/metafield-definitions

  3. https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-admin/productivity-tools/bulk-editing

Overview

Storefront filters make it easy for your customers to find exactly what they want by narrowing products on your collection and search pages. With our modern themes, you benefit from the most advanced and intuitive filtering features available.

💡 Tip: Using storefront filters boosts product discovery and increases conversions by making it easier for shoppers to browse your catalog.

Adding storefront filtering

Setting up storefront filtering gives your customers new ways to sort and refine products based on their preferences.

  1. Install the Search & Discovery app to customize filters for your store, manage search results, and offer personalized recommendations.

  2. Make sure you are using a theme that supports filtering. All of our themes fully support filtering and deliver every modern feature.

  3. In your store admin, go to Online Store > Navigation to check if filtering is available.

    1. If filtering is not available, a message will appear in the Collection and search filters section.

    2. You can create filters, but they only display if your theme supports them.

📝 Note: Some third-party themes may not support storefront filtering, and you might not receive a warning if that’s the case.

Displaying filters

Our themes allow you to easily turn product filters on or off for collection and search pages.

  1. Filtering settings are found in the Product grid section for collections and in Search results for search pages.

  2. When a customer selects a filter, the product list instantly updates to display only relevant products.

Adding filters

Filters help customers refine product lists by brand, price, size, color, and many other attributes.

Filter types

You can add up to 25 filters, using either standard or custom options to best suit your store.

Standard filters

  1. Product availability

  2. Price

  3. Vendor

  4. Product type

  5. Tags

    1. The price filter is displayed only when the shopper’s currency matches your store’s main currency.

Custom filters

Custom filters create unique product navigation tailored to your brand.

  1. Create custom filters using product options (like size, color, or pattern).

  2. Use metafields to create unique criteria such as filtering toys by "Age Range."

  3. Add metaobjects to support visual filters, including color or image swatches.

    1. Product option filters depend on your product’s variants.

    2. Metafield filters are perfect for special fields or unique product details.

    3. Metaobjects enable more advanced and visual filtering capabilities.

Supported metafield and metaobject types

To create custom filters, you can use the following field types:

  1. Single line text

  2. Single line text (List)

  3. Decimal

  4. Integer

  5. True or false

  6. Metaobject reference

  7. Metaobject reference (List)

💡 Tip: Define metafields according to the official metafield definitions documentation. Once your metafields are set up, you can select them when editing your filters.

  1. The Bulk Editor tool helps you update metafields and attributes across many products at once.

Editing filters

You can easily manage your filter options from the app.

  1. In the Search & Discovery app, go to Filters and select Add filter.

  2. Choose the source for your filter.

  3. Change the filter label to suit your shoppers, if needed.

  4. Adjust filter behavior to control how filter values combine.

  5. Group similar filter values together for a cleaner look.

  6. Click Save to apply your updates.

    1. Rearrange filters by dragging and dropping them into your preferred order.

📝 Note: Renaming a filter changes only its public label; it does not rename your internal product data. For instance, renaming "Size" does not affect the size option shown on your product pages.

Filter values

Each filter only shows values that apply to the products in a collection or search result. A maximum of 100 values are visible to customers for each filter.

  1. Similar filter values can be grouped to show fewer, clearer choices.

  2. In the app, up to 1,000 values can be managed per filter, but customers see only up to 100.

  3. You may notice that some values visible to customers do not appear in the app, and vice versa.

Grouping filter values

Grouping variants makes choices simpler for shoppers.

  1. In the app, go to Filters and add or select a filter.

  2. Select the values you want to group in the values table.

  3. Click Create group and enter a name for the group.

  4. Click Done, then Save.

    1. Each filter group can have up to 50 unique values, and your store can use up to 1,000 different groups.

Sorting filter values

Filter values are shown in ascending order by default, either alphabetically or by number.

  1. For example, shoe sizes or age groups display in logical order.

  2. Filters titled "Size" use a custom sort, so "XS" shows before "S," etc.

Custom sorting

To set a custom display order, use a Single line text metafield with preset choices. The sequence you define in your admin controls the order customers see.

Handling empty filter values

Fine-tune your customer experience by controlling how empty filter values appear.

  1. In the app’s Settings, choose:

    1. Hide — empty values are hidden.

    2. Show at the end — empty values appear last.

    3. Show in default order — empty values are sorted normally.

  2. Click Save when done.

Excluding unwanted values

Use metafield-driven filters to limit which values customers see. This is especially helpful when tags are used for internal processes.

  1. Select single line text or list-type metafields as filter sources for fine control.

  2. Use the Bulk Editor tool for efficient, store-wide updates.

Visual filters

Visual filters make your store visually engaging by showing swatches for color, pattern, or other attributes.

  1. Metaobjects allow filters to use images or color swatches, or just display as text.

Requirements for filter swatches

To set up swatches, ensure you have:

  1. A metaobject with at least one text field — single line, decimal, integer, or true/false.

  2. At least one color or image/file field (lists are not supported).

  3. A metafield or variant that references the metaobject.

  4. Storefront access enabled for both the metaobject and its reference.

💡 Tip: If both swatch pattern and swatch color are set, image swatches take precedence over color swatches.

Steps:

  1. In the app, go to Filters.

  2. Add or select a filter tied to a metaobject reference.

  3. Go to Display options.

  4. Assign the appropriate label field:

    1. If Show swatch is enabled, pick the color or image field to use.

    2. If Show swatch is disabled, only the text label shows.

Filter behavior

Filters appear only when relevant to the products on a page.

  1. Selecting across different filters uses an and condition to narrow your results.

  2. Selecting multiple values inside a single filter uses an or condition by default, which shows more results.

    1. Some filter types let you switch to an and condition for even more precise refining.

  • Product option filters like Size or Color work at the variant level, so selecting multiple options can affect search results.

Adjusting filter logic

Decide how values combine for tag, metafield list, and metaobject reference list filters.

  1. In the app, go to Filters and click Add filter.

  2. Select your preferred source.

  3. Set your logic under Logic.

  4. Click Save when finished.

Filter translations

You can make filters user-friendly in every supported language.

  1. Use translation apps like Translate & Adapt to translate filter labels, values, and groups.

  2. If a translation is not found, your store’s default language shows instead.

  3. Product tag filters are only visible in your default language, while vendor filters always use your default language.

📝 Note: Some translation apps may generate multiple translations for a single attribute. For a consistent customer experience, edit product translations as needed.

  • Market-specific language variants are not supported for filter values, but filter labels and filter groups can be adjusted for some markets.

Limitations

While storefront filtering is robust, there are a few limits to keep in mind.

  1. Filters are not displayed for collections with more than 5,000 products.

  2. If a search returns over 100,000 results, filters are not shown.

  3. A filter can display only up to 100 values on your storefront; group similar products to work within this limit.

  4. The app may display 1,000 filter values per filter for management, but not all will be visible to shoppers.

  5. Each filter group is limited to 50 values, and your store can have up to 1,000 groups.

  6. Translations for vendor and tag filter values are not supported. Product tag filters are shown only in your default language.

  7. Filter value translations follow your published languages, not market-specific settings.

  8. The price filter is available only in your store’s default currency.