Jenny O'Brien January 15, 2026 A 2 minute read

WooCommerce 10.5 Is Changing Product URLs – Why It Matters for Your Store

What the WooCommerce 10.5 Product Permalink Update Means for Your Store

WooCommerce has announced an important change coming in WooCommerce 10.5 that affects how product URLs (permalinks) are generated when products belong to multiple categories.

While this is a technical update, it brings some meaningful improvements for site structure, consistency, and search engine optimisation (SEO). Here’s what you need to know.

What’s Changing?

Before WooCommerce 10.5, when a product was assigned to more than one category, WooCommerce selected which category appeared in the product URL based on internal sorting rules. These rules considered things like category depth and term ID, which could sometimes lead to unexpected or less logical URLs.

From WooCommerce 10.5 onwards, the system will now choose the deepest category (the category with the most levels in the hierarchy) when generating a product permalink.

For example, if a product belongs to both:

  • Electronics > Phones > Smartphones
  • Sale Items

The product URL will now consistently use the more specific category path:

/electronics/phones/smartphones/product-name/

Why This Is a Good Thing

This change brings several practical benefits:

  • Clearer URLs – Product links better reflect your category structure.
  • Improved SEO signals – More descriptive URLs can help search engines understand page relevance.
  • Predictable behaviour – URLs are no longer affected by category creation order.

Crucially, WooCommerce also handles this change safely. If a product’s URL changes as a result of the update, WooCommerce automatically applies canonical redirects from the old URL to the new one. This helps prevent broken links and protects existing SEO value.

Who Is Affected?

This update only affects stores using category-based product permalinks, such as:

  • Shop base with category (e.g. /shop/category/product/)
  • Custom permalink structures that include %product_cat%

If your store uses the default permalink structure, a simple shop base, or a custom structure that does not include product categories, this change will not affect your URLs.

Can the Old Behaviour Be Kept?

Yes. For developers or sites that rely on the previous behaviour, WooCommerce 10.5 includes a filter that allows the legacy category selection logic to be restored. This ensures backward compatibility where required.

In Summary

  • WooCommerce 10.5 now selects the deepest product category for permalinks
  • This improves URL clarity and consistency
  • Only category-based permalink structures are affected
  • Automatic redirects protect existing links

If your store uses category-based product URLs, it’s worth reviewing your category hierarchy to make sure it reflects how you want products presented online.

If you’d like help reviewing or managing WooCommerce updates, feel free to get in touch with the team.