---
title: How to Hide Shipping Above a Maximum Weight in WooCommerce
description: "Set a Maximum Weight Limit so Weight-Based Shipping disappears for heavier carts and shows your own message, such as a freight quote request."
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-max-weight-limit/"
updated: "2026-10-05"
category: How to
---

# How to Hide Shipping Above a Maximum Weight in WooCommerce

To hide a shipping method when an order is too heavy, open [Weight-Based Shipping for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/) at **WPFactory > Weight-Based Shipping** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping**), edit the method in your zone, and set **Maximum Weight Limit**. Heavier carts no longer see the method and get your custom message instead.

## How the maximum weight limit works

When the package weight is **more than** the **Maximum Weight Limit**, Weight-Based Shipping removes itself from the available methods and adds your **Maximum Weight Exceeded Message** as an error notice. A package weighing exactly the limit is still allowed. Leave the field empty and there is no limit. This setting is included in every install; it is not a Pro feature.

The limit is checked before the free shipping thresholds and the tier table, so an over-limit cart gets no rate from this method even if it would otherwise ship free.

![Weight-Based Shipping settings modal, Maximum Weight Limit and Maximum Weight Exceeded Message fields filled in](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/weight-based-shipping-max-weight-limit-1.png)

## Set a maximum weight

1. Go to **WPFactory > Weight-Based Shipping** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping**).
2. Open the zone and click to edit the **Weight-Based Shipping** method.
3. In **Maximum Weight Limit**, enter the heaviest package you will ship, in your store's weight unit (for example `30`).
4. In **Maximum Weight Exceeded Message**, write what the customer should do next, for example "Orders over 30 kg ship by freight. Contact us for a quote."
5. Save the method.

## Options

| Label | Option ID | Type | Default | Free/Pro |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Maximum Weight Limit | `max_weight` | Number | Empty (no limit) | Included |
| Maximum Weight Exceeded Message | `max_weight_message` | Textarea | Sorry, your order exceeds our maximum shipping weight. Please contact us for a custom shipping quote. | Included |

## Decide what heavy carts should see

- **No shipping at all.** If Weight-Based Shipping is the only method in the zone, an over-limit cart has no shipping option and cannot complete checkout until it is lighter.
- **An alternative.** Add another method to the same zone, for example Local Pickup, or a second Weight-Based Shipping instance titled *Freight* with its own tiers and no limit. The customer still sees your message, and can pick the alternative.

## Maximum weight vs a capped top tier

Putting a maximum on your last tier does not hide the method. A weight above every tier falls back to the last tier's cost, so heavy carts are still quoted. To refuse heavy carts, use **Maximum Weight Limit** and leave the last tier's **Max Weight** blank.

## Use cases

- Match a courier's parcel weight cap so you never quote a parcel rate for a pallet.
- Send heavy orders to a quote request instead of an underpriced checkout.
- Apply a ceiling only on international zones, and none domestically.

## Troubleshooting

- **The message shows but other methods still appear.** That is expected: the limit only removes this method. Other methods in the zone are unaffected.
- **Heavy carts still get a rate.** Check the field is not empty, that you edited the instance in the zone you are testing, and that your products have weights (a product with no weight adds nothing).
- **A cart at exactly the limit is still allowed.** Correct: only weights above the limit are refused. Enter a slightly lower number if you need the limit itself excluded.

### Get Weight-Based Shipping

Every setting covered here is included in [Weight-Based Shipping for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/), with no locked Pro options. [Get Weight-Based Shipping](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/).

Need a hand? Our team answers every ticket on the [Weight-Based Shipping support forum](https://wpfactory.com/support/).

Related articles

- [How to Offer Economy and Express Weight-Based Shipping Options](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-economy-express/)
- [How to Offer Free Shipping Over an Order Amount with Weight-Based Rates](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-free-over-amount/)
- [How to Set Different Weight-Based Shipping Rates per Zone or Country](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-rates-per-zone/)
- [How to Charge Shipping by Weight in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-charge-shipping-by-weight/)
- [Handling Fees, Free Shipping Thresholds and Weight Limits](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-fees-and-limits/)