Set for its final release on September 1, 2026, WooCommerce 11.1 brings compliance features for European merchants, developer-focused API tools, fixes for improving block editor performance, and experimental features aimed at reducing asset overhead.
In this article, we’ll highlight the key features, developer considerations and other changes landing in the new version.
Withdrawal Flow for EU Orders
To better serve merchants selling within or into the EU, WooCommerce 11.1 introduces a native Right of Order Withdrawal feature. This is an opt-in feature, and has to be enabled in settings separately (WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features).
- How to request a withdrawal: Shoppers can request a withdrawal via a dedicated page (e.g. /my-account/withdraw-order/), no account authentication required.
- Linking the request to order data: When a submitted order number and billing email match an existing order, the withdrawal request is attached directly to the order as a note.
- Any unmatched requests are flagged for manual review.
- Merchant notifications: Once a withdrawal has been requested, stores receive both email alerts and WooCommerce inbox notifications.
API & Checkout Enhancements
REST API refunds are now automated and can be previewed. The /wc/v3/orders/{id}/refunds endpoint now supports a compute_totals: true parameter in the request body, instructing the server to handle complex tax and item calculation logic automatically. Additionally, developers can preview calculations before applying them using the new endpoint:
POST /wc/v3/orders/{id}/refunds/preview
In addition, the WooCommerce Store API gets a separate verification for totals. To prevent discrepancies between the checkout UI and the final charged amount, the Store API checkout endpoints now accept an optional expected_total integer parameter. If the server-calculated total diverges from what the customer saw, the request fails with a HTTP 409 Conflict woocommerce_rest_checkout_total_mismatch error.
Interested in learning more about HTTP status codes and errors? Read our previously published blog post about them.
Improved Performance
Got a Woo store with rather complex store pages? WooCommerce 11.1 makes pages load faster by fixing two main performance issues:
- Fewer database requests: Previously, WooCommerce made separate, repeated database queries for product variations, prices, and editor tools. Now, it fetches this data efficiently in bulk, cutting down unnecessary database requests (a what-you-might-call $N+1$ fix).
- Smarter block loading: To keep the site lightweight, WooCommerce no longer loads block components (like Gutenberg blocks or layout patterns) during background tasks, AJAX calls, or API requests that don’t actually display blocks on the screen.
Good to Know!
If a product description actually contains WooCommerce blocks, they will still load automatically when needed. If you’re building a custom plugin that needs these blocks loaded early, you can use the new woocommerce_should_register_blocks filter.
Email Editor Updates
Fancy richer WooCommerce email content? The block-based email editor gains expanded embed options and improved context escaping:
- More supported embeds: You can now insert rich video cards and thumbnails from YouTube, Vimeo, VideoPress, TikTok, and Dailymotion, as well as native WordPress link cards. Audio embeds remain restricted, while unsupported embeds trigger a warning in the editor.
- Context-aware personalization tags: Custom personalization tag callbacks now receive the destination content type (HTML, plain text, or
href), allowing proper escaping per context. This means special characters can now be escaped correctly and automatically, so your links don’t break and your site stays safe from security vulnerabilities (like XSS).
Experimental Features
WooCommerce 11.1 includes experimental features as well – you just need to unlock them! In your dashboard, simply navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features > Experimental.
Individual block scripts and styles are now combined into single core bundles, which drastically speeds up the editor by cutting network requests by up to 91% and reducing total download sizes by nearly half. Early support for video in product galleries has also been added behind an experimental flag for testing.
For Developers
Starting in WooCommerce 11.1, a set of long-standing WooCommerce Admin feature flags (including analytics, customize-store, and launch-your-store) are being officially retired. Because these core features are now fully stable and enabled by default, WooCommerce will load them directly rather than checking flag sources like window.wcAdminFeatures or Features::is_enabled().
Store functionality remains unaffected, and legacy checks will temporarily rely on compatibility shims that trigger deprecation warnings. Extension developers should audit custom code to remove these unnecessary flag gates before the “shims” are completely removed in a future release. Read more about these changes on WooCommerce’s official blog.
Other Changes and Deprecations
| Scope | Details |
| REST API detection | is_rest_api_request() now recognizes ?rest_route= query parameters, bringing standard URL fallback formats in line with pretty permalinks. |
| Accessibility (WCAG) | The DOM order of the quantity stepper button was updated to match its visual position (fixing WCAG 1.3.2/2.4.3). Themes relying on specific DOM child indices should re-test. |
| Deprecations | ProductGalleryUtils::get_product_gallery_image_count() is deprecated in favor of get_product_gallery_media_count(). |
| Product search | search_products() now wraps its internal OR disjunctions in parentheses, preventing include, exclude, status, and type queries from leaking into adjacent query groups. |
| Private APIs | Internal entities on window.wc.wcEntities have been stripped from public scope. |
| Currency symbols | Macanese Pataca (MOP) updated from P to MOP$; Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) updated from ZK to K. |
For full release notes, head over to WooCommerce’s official developer blog!
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