How to Remove Shortcodes and HTML Tags from Product Descriptions

When you write product descriptions in WordPress, you might use formatting like bold text, bullet points, or page builder blocks. These add hidden code to your description, called HTML tags and shortcodes. On your website, this code is invisible and makes the description look great.

But when that same description goes into a product feed, the code shows up as raw text and makes your description look broken or messy.

CTX Feed lets you strip out this unwanted code from your feed descriptions without changing anything on your website.

There are two ways to do it: using the Output Type dropdown on the feed field, or using a command in the Output box.

What are HTML tags and shortcodes?
HTML tags are pieces of code like <p>, <strong>, or <br> that your website uses to format text — making it bold, adding paragraph breaks, and so on. If they appear in a feed, the channel displays them as raw symbols, not formatting.

Shortcodes are WordPress-specific tags like [ vc _row], [ button link=”…”], or [ products limit=”4″] added by page builders and plugins. They do nothing outside of WordPress and show up as broken text in a feed.

What your description looks like in the feed without cleaning it

Description in feed — not cleaned

<p><strong>Comfortable everyday sneaker.</strong> Perfect for all-day wear. [vc_row][vc_column]Available in 5 colours.</vc_column>[/vc_row]</p>

Description in feed — after cleaning

Comfortable everyday sneaker. Perfect for all-day wear. Available in 5 colours.

The cleaned version is plain readable text — exactly what channels like Google Shopping, Facebook, and others expect to receive.

Method 1

The description field already defaults to Remove Short Codes. If you also need HTML tags removed, just switch it to Strip Tags. No commands needed.

✅ Easiest — shortcodes already handled by default

Method 2

Command in the Output box: Type a short command into the Output box on the field row. Useful when you want to combine cleaning with other formatting in one step.

✅ Best for combining with other commands

Video Tutorial: Remove Shortcodes and HTML Tags from Product Descriptions

Method 1 — Change the Output Type on the Feed Field

This is the quickest way. On the feed field list, the Product Description field already has its Output Type set to Remove Short Codes by default — so shortcodes are stripped automatically without you doing anything.

If your description also contains HTML tags (like <p> or <strong>) and you want those removed too, just change the Output Type from Remove Short Codes to Strip Tags. Strip Tags removes both HTML tags and shortcodes in one go.

Already set up for you The description field comes with Remove Short Codes selected by default. If your description only contains shortcodes, you do not need to change anything — it is already being cleaned.

How to change it to Strip Tags?

1. Go to CTX Feed → Manage Feeds and click Edit on your feed.
2. In the Feed Config section, find the Product Description field row.
3. Click the Output Type dropdown on that row — it will show Remove Short Codes as the current selection.
4. Change it to Strip Tags to remove HTML tags as well.
5. Click Update and Generate Feed to save and rebuild your feed.

Method 2 — Use a Command in the Output Box

You can also remove shortcodes and HTML tags by typing a command directly into the Output box on the feed field row. This is the small text box to the right of the attribute dropdown. The commands do exactly the same thing as the Output Type options above — you can use whichever approach you prefer.

💡Where is the Output box? On each field row in the Feed Config section, there is a small text input to the right of the attribute dropdown. That is the Output box. Type your command there. See the Format Attribute Output guide for a screenshot showing exactly where to find it.

Remove Shortcodes [strip_shortcodes]

Type [strip_shortcodes] into the Output box on the description field. CTX Feed will remove all WordPress shortcodes from the description before putting it into the feed.

Example output box value: [strip_shortcodes]

Remove HTML Tags [strip_tags]

Type [strip_tags] into the Output box on the description field. CTX Feed will remove all HTML tags and return plain text.

Example output box value: [strip_tags]

Do You Need to Remove Both Shortcodes and HTML Tags?

If your description contains both shortcodes and HTML tags — which is common when using page builders — you can run both commands together. Type them in the Output box separated by a comma. CTX Feed runs them left to right, so the first command runs first, and the second runs on the result.

Combining commands in the Output box

[strip_shortcodes], [strip_tags]– Removes shortcodes first, then removes any remaining HTML tags. Result is clean plain text with no formatting code of any kind.

[strip_tags], [strip_shortcodes] – Removes HTML tags first, then removes shortcodes. The order usually does not matter for these two — use whichever feels natural.

[strip_shortcodes], [strip_tags], [substr 0 500] – Removes shortcodes, removes HTML tags, then trims the description to 500 characters. Useful if your channel has a character limit on descriptions.

Want to combine more commands? See the Format Attribute Output Commands guide for the full list of commands you can use and how to chain them together.

Which Method Should You Use?

🔹Use the Output Type dropdown (Method 1) if you just need to clean up the description and nothing else. It is the fastest option — one click in the dropdown and you are done. No typing required.

🔹Use the command in the Output box (Method 2) if you are already using other commands on the description field, or if you want to combine cleaning with trimming to a character limit in one step.