Search Exclude
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About
Hide any post or page from the search results.
Security History
What It Does
Search Exclude adds a meta box to the post and page editor where you can tick a checkbox to remove that specific item from default WordPress search results. It also adds a bulk action on the posts and pages list screens so you can hide multiple items at once without opening each one. The plugin works with the standard WP_Query loop and does not require any configuration beyond ticking the box.
Who It's For
This plugin is a good fit for site owners who have a small number of pages or posts they want hidden from public search, such as draft-style landing pages, expired listings, outdated documentation, or internal announcements on a public-facing site. It is especially useful for membership sites, real estate listings, and knowledge bases where a few specific items should not appear when visitors use the search bar. Non-technical editors will appreciate the simple checkbox interface.
Who Should Skip It
If you need to exclude content by category, tag, custom taxonomy, or user role rather than by individual post, this plugin will not help because it operates one item at a time. Sites running a custom search engine such as Relevanssi or Ivory Search should configure exclusions inside that plugin instead, since third-party search tools bypass the standard WP_Query filter.
The Bottom Line
Search Exclude does exactly one job and does it well, with a clean checkbox UI, very high user ratings, and solid recent maintenance. The only real concern is the complete absence of public support threads, which means you are trusting the developer with no visible track record. For sites that need a lightweight, surgical way to hide a handful of posts or pages from search, it is hard to beat; for anything more complex, look at Relevanssi or Ivory Search.
Related Plugins
Pick Relevanssi when you want to replace the default search engine entirely with relevance-ranked results and need richer exclusion controls.
Choose Ivory Search if you need to build custom search forms and want fine-grained control over what content types, taxonomies, and meta fields are searchable.
Use Search Regex when your main need is to search and replace content inside posts rather than to hide posts from search results.
YMC Filter makes sense if you want AJAX-powered filtering for taxonomies, custom fields, and post types rather than simple exclusion.
Pick Ajax Search Lite when you want live dropdown search results with autocomplete and image thumbnails out of the box.