---
title: "How to disable specific variants so they cannot be purchased"
description: "Hide individual variants if you do not plan on selling them"
url: https://help.cartgenie.com/en/articles/219-how-to-disable-specific-variants-so-they-cannot-be-purchased
collection: "Products & Categories FAQ"
updated: 2026-06-19
language: en
---

# How to disable specific variants so they cannot be purchased

Hide individual variants if you do not plan on selling them

When you create a product in CartGenie and add option sets and values (such as Storage: 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and Color: Black, Silver, Gold), CartGenie automatically creates variants for every possible combination of those values.

In some cases, you may never intend to sell certain combinations. For example, a phone manufacturer may offer 128 GB and 256 GB models in all colors, but only offer the 512 GB model in Black. Variants such as 512 GB / Silver and 512 GB / Gold are not out of stock—they simply do not exist.

While you could set the inventory of those variants to **0**, this can make inventory management more confusing. A variant with zero inventory typically appears to be temporarily out of stock and may look like something that should be restocked in the future.

## What is a Disabled Variant?

The **Disable Variants toggle** allows you to permanently mark specific variant combinations as unavailable without removing the option values themselves. Disabled variants are clearly distinguished from out-of-stock variants in the backend, helping keep your inventory organized and making it easier to focus on products you actually sell.

-   To your customers: a disabled variant option will be displayed but will be shown as **out of stock** and **unable to be purchased.**
    
-   On the backend: you will see a “disabled” icon and the variant will be greyed out so you don’t confuse it with a real product that is simply out of stock.
    

## How to Disable a Variant

In CartGenie, open the product you want to edit and go to the **Variants** tab.

Click into the variant you want to disable and scroll down to the **Disable Variant** toggle and enable it.

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/ybKbkJat0nhcTLiN11x49HCu5g673AeBLyHSKt2gX6Ip5xmtB9YHQJftX2sdEG4CsvSQLO2Vywc.png)

Then **Save** your changes.

You will now see the disabled variant as low opacity with a disabled icon.

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/davL13irBlP6ahCKrwf3rWHDdeJBJGBdsT75WJY5LosYKl0qvyEbSTxPPGfE9jUionLRH5ewmBQ.png)

On the front-end, your product will be shown as Out of Stock if selected.

![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/gattachments/9NMQJPaaH3Zl7ZjClk0VdNqpKkOF1l4yNPX2owgqMZFjRzSRrsmhND2u7qiekX9nIHZb28hswPj.png)

> **Info:** Disabled variants can be enabled on any variant regardless of whether you have inventory tracking enabled or not.