Deleted products still appearing in store

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A merchant encountered an issue where 3 deleted products continued appearing in store search results and collections, despite being removed from the admin panel. Clicking these ghost products led to 404 errors, and they weren’t counted in the search result totals.

Initial troubleshooting attempts:

  • Tested across multiple browsers and systems with cleared caches
  • Products were not visible in admin product lists, collections, or exports
  • Re-importing products created duplicates rather than resolving the issue
  • Products didn’t appear in the Google Shopping Feed app

Root cause identified:
The ‘Smart Product Filter & Search’ app from Globo was caching product data automatically. The app doesn’t update in real-time when products are deleted.

Solution:
Manually re-syncing the cached data within the Smart Product Filter & Search app cleared the deleted products from search results.

Alternative suggestions:
Other search apps like Ultimate Filter & Search and Klevu offer real-time syncing, eliminating the need for manual re-syncing after product changes. These apps also provide advanced filtering options based on tags, variants, collections, and stock status.

Summarized with AI on November 17. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Importing from .csv, took a few tries to get it right. Deleted products from store in between imports.
After one of the deletes, 3 of the 34 products still showed up in search & collections. Clicking on them goes to a 404.
Tested this in different browsers, on different systems & with a cleared cache.
When searching for them, they aren’t listed in the count of returns.
“2 Results for Granny Smith”, but 3 products are displayed.
https://auraofdistinction.com/search?q=Granny+Smith
https://auraofdistinction.com/search?q=bronze+stone
https://auraofdistinction.com/search?q=howards+end

They were nowhere in the admin, not in product list, the list of items in a collection or a full export.

I tried a new import, hoping it would merge/replace them, but now those 3 are duplicated in search results on the site. The newly imported ones works, the old ones still 404.

They do not show up in the ‘Feed for Google Shopping’ app.
Imported with the Excelify app.
Also using the ‘Smart Product Filter & Search’ app from Globo.

Any guidance on another way to access these products or your assistance in deleting them from your end would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

2

I figured it out.

The ‘Smart Product Filter & Search’ app caches product data automatically when you change things… usually.
Had to re-sync data there to clear the affected products.

1 Like
3

Hello @kpowers

Some search apps like Ultimate Filter & Search, Klevu sync product update in real time, so you don’t have to click Re-sync after editing the product data. They have more advanced tools to arrange the product results based on tag, option, brand, collection, stock status (low stock, out of stock). You could duplicate the live theme and try these apps on the unpublished copied themes.

4

was feeling it could be the Filter&search thing as I use that too and had similar problem before