In short. Use WooCommerce's review settings to label purchaser reviews, restrict submissions to buyers, and require star ratings.
Definition: WooCommerce can label reviews from customers who purchased a product and can restrict review submission to those customers. Its product review settings also control whether star ratings are available and whether a rating is required.
Key facts
- The review controls are in WooCommerce > Settings > Products > General, in the Product Ratings (Reviews) section, according to WooCommerce's Products Settings documentation.
- The Show “verified owner” label on customer reviews setting identifies a review from a customer who purchased the product, while Reviews can only be left by “verified owners” limits review submission to product buyers, as described in WooCommerce's Product Reviews documentation.
- Enable star rating on reviews lets customers include a rating, and Star ratings should be required, not optional makes a rating required when a review is submitted. WooCommerce lists both controls in its Products Settings documentation.
- Reviews can also be enabled or disabled for an individual product through the Advanced section of the product editor. WooCommerce's Product Editor settings reference calls this control Enable Reviews.
Where are the purchaser and rating controls?
As of 17 October 2026, WooCommerce documents the controls under the general product settings screen. Open this path:
WooCommerce > Settings > Products > General
The Show “verified owner” label on customer reviews checkbox adds the label when the reviewer purchased the product. The Reviews can only be left by “verified owners” checkbox restricts review submission to customers who purchased it. These settings address different outputs: one describes the reviewer on a review, while the other controls who may submit one.
The same settings section contains Enable star rating on reviews and Star ratings should be required, not optional. The first permits a star rating on the review form. The second makes choosing a rating part of leaving a review. The documentation presents the label, eligibility, rating availability, and rating requirement as separate settings.
How does WooCommerce handle review eligibility?
The purchaser restriction uses the product purchase relationship documented by WooCommerce. When the restriction is enabled, the documentation says that everyone except product buyers is restricted from leaving reviews. The label uses the same purchase relationship to mark the reviewer's status.
Review availability also has a product-level control. In the product editor, open Product data > Advanced and use Enable Reviews. The Product Editor settings reference defines that setting as enabling or disabling customer reviews for the individual item. A product page displays a review form when reviews are enabled, with a star-rating control when ratings are enabled.
Are star ratings required?
The general setting makes a star rating required for the ordinary review submission flow when it is enabled. WooCommerce also documents a separate Customer review request (beta) flow for a completed order. In that flow, each product that the customer chooses to review requires a star rating, while written review text is optional.
That order-review page can show products separately, including purchased variations with their variation details. Fully refunded products and products with reviews disabled do not appear in the documented list. The rating requirement therefore applies to each product selected for review in that flow.
Related terms
- Review structured data
- AggregateRating structured data
- Where does WooCommerce generate Product JSON-LD?
FAQ
Can WooCommerce show a purchaser label without restricting submissions?
Yes. WooCommerce documents a label checkbox and a separate purchaser restriction checkbox. Enable the label when the store should identify purchaser reviews, and enable the restriction when only product buyers may submit reviews.
Can reviews be disabled for one product?
Yes. Open the product's Product data > Advanced section and change Enable Reviews. WooCommerce documents this as the individual product control for enabling or disabling customer reviews.
Does a required rating make written text mandatory?
In WooCommerce's documented Customer review request (beta) flow, a star rating is required for every product selected for review and written review text is optional.
Sources
- WooCommerce, "Products Settings", 4 September 2026
- WooCommerce, "Product Reviews", 5 August 2026
- WooCommerce, "WooCommerce Product Editor settings", 2 September 2026
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