How to Remove Products from Google My Business

Clearing out old or discontinued items from your Google Business Profile is a small but important task for keeping your online presence accurate and professional. When customers see updated offerings, it builds trust and prevents frustrating experiences, like someone trying to buy something you no longer sell. This guide walks you through exactly how to remove products, troubleshoot common issues, and manage your product listings effectively.

Why You Should Keep Your Google Product Listings Tidy

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) often serves as a customer's first interaction with your brand. Think of it as your digital storefront window. If that window is cluttered with outdated flyers, seasonal items from two years ago, or "out of stock" signs everywhere, it doesn't create a great first impression. Here are a few solid reasons to periodically clean up your product listings:

• Discontinued Items: The most obvious reason is when you permanently stop selling a product. Keeping it on your profile creates confusion and can lead to disappointing customer inquiries about something they can't have.
• Temporary or Seasonal Stock: That festive "Holiday Gift Basket" probably shouldn't be your lead product in July. Removing seasonal items after the season ends keeps your profile relevant and current. You can always re-add them when the time is right.
• Out-of-Stock Products (Long-Term): If a product is unavailable due to supply chain issues and you have no idea when it's coming back, deleting it might be cleaner than leaving it up indefinitely. For short-term outages, however, you have other options.
• Business Pivot or Rebranding: If your company's focus has shifted, your product listings should reflect that. Removing old products that no longer align with your core business helps communicate your new direction clearly.
• Simplifying the Customer Experience: Too many options can be overwhelming. Curating a smaller, updated list of your bestsellers or core products can make it easier for customers to browse and decide what they want.

The First Step: Identify How Your Products Were Added

Before you can remove a product, you need to know how it got there in the first place. For most businesses, products on Google live in one of three places. Figuring out which one applies to you is half the battle.

1. Manually Through the "Products" Tab

This is the most common method for retail shops, e-commerce stores, and other businesses that sell physical goods. You or someone on your team went into your Google Business Profile Manager, clicked "Edit products," and uploaded photos, descriptions, and prices manually. If this sounds like you, the removal process is straightforward and directly within your control.

2. Through the "Menu" Feature

For restaurants, cafes, bars, and some service-based businesses like salons, items are often listed in the "Menu" section instead of the "Products" section. While a "menu" and a "product list" might seem similar, Google treats them as distinct features with slightly different editing interfaces. Items here are a little different, as they are often service-based, but behave very similarly to products for our purposes.

3. Automatically Through a Third-Party Service

This is where things can get tricky. Many modern point-of-sale (POS) systems, e-commerce platforms (like Shopify or WooCommerce), and online ordering services (like DoorDash or Uber Eats for restaurants) can automatically sync your inventory with your Google Business Profile. If your products appear on Google "magically" without you adding them one by one, they are almost certainly coming from an external feed. This includes products showing up via Google's Merchant Center from a local inventory feed. In these cases, you cannot delete the item from Google Business Profile directly. You have to remove it from the source platform.

How to Remove Products from the "Products" Tab (The Standard Way)

If you manually added your items, you’re in luck - deleting them is easy. Follow these steps on a desktop computer for the most straightforward experience.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Access Your Profile: Go to Google and search for your business name. Make sure you are logged into the Google account that manages your profile. You should see the management panel directly in the search results.
2. Navigate to Products: Find and click the button labeled "Edit products." This will take you to your product management interface.
3. Find the Product to Remove: Scroll through your products to locate the one you want to delete. Products are usually organized into categories if you've set them up.
4. Open the Product Menu: Click on the specific product you want to get rid of. This will open up the product details screen. In the top right corner of that product box, you'll see three vertical dots (⋮,). Click on them to open a small menu.
5. Delete the Product: From the menu, select "Delete product." Google will show a confirmation pop-up to make sure you want to permanently remove it. Click "Delete" to confirm.

That's it! The product is now removed. Keep in mind that it might take Google a few minutes (and in rare cases, up to a day) to remove it from your public-facing Business Profile, so don't panic if it doesn't disappear instantly.

Deleting Products from the Google Maps App

You can also manage products on the go from your phone.

1. Open the Google Maps app and tap your profile picture in the corner.
2. Select "Your Business Profiles" and choose the profile you want to manage.
3. Tap the "Products" button from the business overview panel.
4. Tap on the product you want to remove.
5. Tap the three dots (⋮,) in the upper right and select "Delete product."

What if I Don't See a "Delete" Option? Troubleshooting Common Issues

Frustratingly, you might follow the steps above and find that there’s no option to delete a product. In 99% of cases, this means the product isn't being managed directly on Google Business Profile. Here's how to figure out what's going on.

Problem 1: The Product is Synced from Your E-commerce Store or POS

Many systems offer integrations that automatically publish your product catalog to Google. While this is great for keeping things in sync, it means you must manage the products at the source.

• For Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc.: Log into your e-commerce platform's dashboard. Find the product you want to remove from Google and either delete it entirely, set its publishing status to "hidden" for the Google channel, or remove it from the product collection that syncs to Google.
• For POS systems (like Square, Toast, or Clover): Log into your POS system's admin panel. Your inventory feeds are managed from there. Remove the item from your public-facing online catalog or menu to stop it from syncing.

Problem 2: The Product is Coming from Google Merchant Center

If you run local inventory ads or Shopping ads, you have to connect your Business Profile to Google Merchant Center. Your product feed is managed within Merchant Center, not GBP.

To fix this, log into your Google Merchant Center account. Navigate to "Products" > "All products." Find the item you want to remove and either delete it from the feed itself or adjust your feed rules to exclude it. The change will propagate to your Business Profile once Google processes the updated inventory feed.

Problem 3: The Items Are in Your "Menu," Not "Products"

If you run a food or service business, check the "Edit menu" section of your Business Profile Manager. The process is similar to deleting products but occurs in a different area.

1. From your management panel, click "Edit menu."
2. Scroll down and find the menu item you want to get rid of. You might need to click on a menu section (e.g., "Appetizers," "Main Courses") to expand it.
3. Next to each menu item, there should be an option to edit or a three-dot menu (⋮,). Click it and select "Delete item."

Just like with products, if you don't see delete options, it’s likely that your menu is being syndicated from an online ordering platform like Toast, Olo, or SinglePlatform. You'll need to log into that service to make any changes.

Best Practices for a Great Product Display

Simply removing products is just part of the job. A well-maintained product list is a powerful marketing tool. Here are a few tips to make your display stand out.

• Use High-Quality Images: Your product photos are your sales pitch. Use clear, bright, well-lit photos that show your products in the best possible light. Avoid blurry or pixelated images.
• Write Clear Titles and Descriptions: Be descriptive but concise. Include keywords that potential customers might use to search for your products. A title like "Handmade Leather Tote Bag" is much better than "Tote."
• Organize with Categories: Don't dump dozens of products into one long, confusing list. Group related items into categories like "Men's Jackets," "Women's Shoes," or "Popular Drinks." It makes browsing much more pleasant.
• Regularly Audit Your Listings: Set a calendar reminder once a quarter to review your Google product listings. It’s a 15-minute task that can save you from having outdated information floating around online. Remove what's no longer sold and add any new arrivals.

Final Thoughts

Keeping your Google Business Profile product list updated is a direct reflection of your business's attention to detail. Whether you’re manually deleting discontinued items, removing a meal from your menu, or digging into a third-party sync, taking a few minutes to clean house presents a more professional and trustworthy image to every potential customer who finds you on Google.

An updated GMB listing is one key part of your online brand, and a well-managed social media presence is the other. The goal is to make everything cohesive, current, and stress-free. That’s why we built Postbase, we wanted an uncomplicated way to schedule video, photos, and updates across all social channels - all from a single visual calendar. When you can streamline your social media planning, you get valuable time back to focus on other marketing operations, like making sure your Google products are pristine.