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To add a “notify me when back in stock” option, install the official WooCommerce Back In Stock Notifications extension, make sold-out products visible in your catalog, and configure the extension’s signup and stock-threshold settings. WooCommerce core does not provide this complete notification flow on its own. The extension collects customer signups and queues email notifications when eligible products or variations return to stock.
What the extension does—and what it does not do
Back In Stock Notifications lets shoppers request an email when an out-of-stock product becomes available. For supported products, the signup form appears alongside the out-of-stock status. A logged-out shopper enters an email address; a logged-in shopper can use the Notify me button without entering it again.
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The extension can wait until stock reaches a minimum quantity before sending alerts. It also offers double opt-in and an explicit consent checkbox. WooCommerce says signup contact details remain available after notifications are sent, so store owners can export them for email-marketing use. Treat that as a data-use capability, not as a substitute for obtaining any consent your marketing practices or applicable rules require.
WooCommerce’s Store Owner’s Guide says that some studies suggest up to 20% of customers receiving a stock notification will return to complete a purchase. The underlying study is not identified on the guide page, and WooCommerce does not present this as a guaranteed outcome; it should not be treated as a forecast for your store.
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Before you install it
The documented requirements are PHP 7.4 or later, WordPress 6.2 or later, and WooCommerce 8.2 or later. The host must also permit Action Scheduler background processing, which the extension uses to process notification queues. These are the requirements stated in WooCommerce’s Store Owner’s Guide; check the extension’s current documentation and your installed versions before deployment, since compatibility requirements can change.
- Make sure you can access the WooCommerce account that contains the extension download.
- Plan to test the signup and email flow on a customer-facing product page, not only in the WordPress admin.
- If your store relies on a staging environment, verify that its mail configuration and scheduled background tasks behave as intended before enabling the feature on the live store.
Install and configure Back In Stock Notifications
- Download the extension. Sign in to your WooCommerce account and download the Back In Stock Notifications ZIP file.
- Upload and activate it. In WordPress Admin, go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, select the ZIP, choose Install Now, then activate the extension.
- Make out-of-stock products visible. Open WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory and disable Hide out of stock items from the catalog. If a product or variation is hidden, a shopper cannot open its page to sign up for a restock alert.
- Review notification settings. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Stock Notifications. Review double opt-in, whether unverified signups are deleted, whether customers must have an account, and the minimum stock quantity required before alerts are sent.
- Check product-specific behavior. Edit a product if you need to adjust notification behavior for an individual item. For supported product types and variations, the notification form appears beside the Out of stock status.
- Test a signup. Visit a sold-out product as a customer and submit a test signup using the same flow shoppers will use. Then open WooCommerce > Stock Notifications > Notifications to check for the record. WooCommerce says records can be filtered by email, product, or variation and exported to CSV.
Choose settings that fit your store
Decide how a shopper may join the list and when an email should go out. A stricter signup process can add confirmation or consent steps; an account requirement changes who can join. A stock threshold is useful when a single unit becoming available is not enough to fulfill the expected demand.
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| Setting or choice | What it affects | Decision to make |
|---|---|---|
| Double opt-in | Whether a shopper must confirm a signup before it is treated as verified. | Enable it if you want confirmation before accepting a signup. Review the unverified-signup deletion option as part of the same flow. |
| Delete unverified signups | Whether signups that have not been verified are removed. | Choose a retention behavior that matches how you manage unconfirmed requests. |
| Account requirement | Whether shoppers need an account to join. | Consider whether you want guest signups. Logged-out shoppers can provide an email when account creation is not required. |
| Minimum stock quantity | How many units must be available before queued notifications are eligible to send. | Set a threshold if you do not want to alert customers as soon as only a small quantity returns. |
| Product-level settings | Notification behavior for an individual supported product or variation. | Use these where a product needs different handling from the store-wide defaults. |
A customer can sign up only once for a particular product or variation using the same email address. A signup for one variation should not be assumed to cover every variation: shoppers choose the product or variation they want to be notified about.
Supported products and important limits
WooCommerce’s Store Owner’s Guide lists the following supported product types. Support for a product type does not mean every stock status or workflow is eligible: the guide specifically excludes products on backorder from signups.
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| Product type | Notification signup support |
|---|---|
| Simple | Supported |
| Variable | Supported; customers can sign up for a variation |
| Product Bundles | Supported |
| Simple Subscription | Supported |
| Variable Subscription | Supported |
| Products on backorder | Signups are not supported |
If a shopper cannot see the form, first check whether the item is hidden from the catalog, whether it is actually out of stock rather than on backorder, and whether its product type is included in the supported list. For variable products, also confirm that the relevant variation is exposed and has the expected stock status.
How notifications are queued and sent
When stock changes from Out of stock to In stock, the extension builds a recipient queue. Action Scheduler processes the queue and sends messages in batches rather than requiring every email to be sent in the same page request. If you have configured a minimum stock quantity, the alert can wait until available stock reaches that threshold.
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Troubleshoot missing signup forms or emails
The notification form is missing
- Confirm the extension is installed and activated.
- In WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Inventory, verify that Hide out of stock items from the catalog is disabled.
- Check that the shopper is viewing the sold-out product or specific variation, rather than a backorder product, for which signup is unsupported.
- Confirm the product type is supported and inspect any product-level notification settings.
The signup is not visible in the admin
- Submit a fresh test signup through the customer-facing page and use the email address entered in that flow when filtering the admin list.
- Check whether double opt-in is enabled and whether the test signup has been verified. If unverified signups are deleted, an unconfirmed record may not remain available.
- Look in WooCommerce > Stock Notifications > Notifications and filter by email, product, or variation.
- Check for a duplicate signup: the same email can register only once for the same product or variation.
The signup exists, but no restock email arrives
- Check eligibility. Confirm that the item changed from Out of stock to In stock and that available stock meets the configured minimum quantity.
- Check background processing. The extension relies on Action Scheduler. WooCommerce’s guide identifies a disabled WP-Cron or a server unable to make loopback requests as possible reasons scheduled processing may fail.
- Check email capacity and provider setup. Provider limits apply. WooCommerce gives Gmail’s example limit as 500 emails per day; this is an example, not a universal sending limit. For larger volumes, WooCommerce recommends using a dedicated SMTP provider or an HTTP-based email service such as Mailgun or SendGrid.
- Isolate plugin conflicts. WooCommerce recommends temporarily disabling all plugins except WooCommerce and Back In Stock Notifications to see whether another plugin is interfering. Do this cautiously, preferably on staging or during a maintenance window, because disabling plugins can affect the live store.
Because WooCommerce does not guarantee or measure delivery, verify the queue and the sending provider separately. A processed notification and a delivered message are different outcomes; investigate provider acceptance, sending limits, and the recipient’s mailbox if background processing appears healthy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When to consider another waitlist option
WooCommerce’s separate Waitlist extension can email users when stock returns or crosses a configured quantity threshold. Its email subject and content can be edited through WooCommerce email settings. WordPress.org also lists third-party choices such as Back In Stock Notifier and WT Waitlist. Their feature details and compatibility should be checked against their current listings before installation.
Compare alternatives against the actual workflow your store needs rather than assuming that every waitlist plugin offers the same controls:
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- Whether alerts can wait for a minimum stock quantity.
- Guest signup, account requirements, double opt-in, and consent fields.
- Email subject and content controls.
- Queue processing, Action Scheduler behavior, and compatibility with your SMTP or email service.
- Signup export, customer account-page management, and the vendor’s support arrangements.
- Compatibility with your installed WordPress and WooCommerce versions.
Use the official Back In Stock Notifications extension when its supported product scope and signup controls fit your store. Consider a different extension only after confirming that it supports the specific product, threshold, consent, and delivery behavior you need.
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