How to Remove ShortCodes from Product Description?.

If your feed description shows raw shortcodes like [su_button], [vc_row], or

instead of clean text, this guide shows how to strip them out with CTX Feed. It is for store owners whose descriptions were built with a page builder or a shortcode plugin and now leak those codes into their product feed, where channels display them literally. The outcome: a description column with the shortcodes removed and only readable text remaining.

Why shortcodes appear in the feed

WooCommerce stores the raw description text — including any shortcodes — in the database. On your storefront, the theme runs those shortcodes and renders the finished output. A product feed, though, is a data file: there is no page render step, so an unprocessed shortcode is written to the feed as-is. Channels then show the literal [shortcode] text, which looks broken and can trigger disapprovals.

Use the plain Product Description (free)

Map the description row’s Value to Product Description, not Product Description (with HTML). The plain description is cleaned during generation: shortcodes and HTML tags are removed, so it is usually all you need.

Add the Remove ShortCodes output (free)

For any other text field — the short description, the with-HTML description, a custom field — use the row’s Output column:

1. Open CTX Feed → Manage Feeds and edit your feed (or start one with Make Feed).
2. On the Config tab, find the row.
3. In its Output dropdown, tick Remove ShortCodes (add Strip Tags too if you also want HTML removed).
4. Click Save & generate.

The Google Shopping template already sets Remove ShortCodes on the description row.

Remove shortcodes with a command (Pro)

Commands require CTX Feed Pro. On the free version the Command field is shown but locked.

CTX Feed’s Remove shortcodes command goes further: it first expands the shortcodes that are still registered on your site, then strips out what remains — including leftover [tags] from plugins that are no longer active.

1. On the Config tab, click the row’s More button (or Show prefix / suffix / command above the table).
2. Click Build in the Command field to open Build output command.
3. Click Add step and choose Remove shortcodes. For the cleanest result, add Remove HTML, then Trim, after it.
4. Click Apply, then Save & generate.

Prevent shortcodes at the source

The most reliable long-term fix is to keep shortcodes out of the description that feeds shopping channels:

• Write a clean, plain-text description (or short description) intended for feeds, free of builder shortcodes.
• If you use a page builder for the display layout, keep the WooCommerce Product data → description field itself simple, and map that field in your feed.

Troubleshooting

• The command is locked. Commands require CTX Feed Pro. Use the free Remove ShortCodes output instead.
• Some codes remain after Remove shortcodes. Add Remove HTML after it to clear any tags the shortcode left behind, then Trim.
• The whole description went blank. The description may have been only a shortcode. Keep the command builder’s Keep the original value if the result is empty option on (it is on by default), or write real text for that product.
• Short description also has shortcodes. Apply the same Remove shortcodes command to whichever description attribute you mapped (Product Description or Product Short Description).
• Nothing changed. Click Save & generate so the file is rebuilt.

Related guides

• Product description with or without HTML
• How to use commands to format attribute output
• How to solve WooCommerce structured data issues