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Where Are the Redirect to Cart Settings in WooCommerce
October 14, 20268 min read·ShopMonitor Team
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WooCommerce → Settings → Products → General, under Add to cart behaviour, is the screen you want. That is where the redirect to cart settings in WooCommerce are. Enable “Redirect to the cart page after successful addition,” save, and a standard successful add-to-cart request sends the browser to the cart instead of leaving shoppers on the product page.
Older WooCommerce screens may differ
These WooCommerce add to cart behaviour checkboxes affect the same customer action in different ways. Their interaction is why a woocommerce redirect to cart can appear to work on a product page yet disappear on a shop archive.
How the Add to cart behaviour settings interact
| Setting | Browser behavior | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Redirect to the cart page after successful addition | Loads the cart after a successful standard add-to-cart request | Requests that perform a page navigation |
| Enable AJAX add to cart buttons on archives | Adds an item in the background without navigating away | Shop, category, tag, and search archives |
WooCommerce Cart Redirect Setting: Redirect to the Cart Page
Enable AJAX Add to Cart Buttons on Archives
This is a flow decision, not a universal improvement. A cart redirect can reduce friction for a focused one-item purchase. It can also interrupt customers who are comparing products or building a larger basket. Leaving it off keeps the shopper in context and makes the mini cart the progress signal.
No navigation means there is no redirect for the browser to follow.
On archive pages, AJAX changes the request model. It is not simply another presentation option alongside the redirect checkbox.
Why the redirect appears to fail
If you cannot find Add to cart behaviour, or the checkbox has no visible effect, investigate these three layers before changing more settings.
The Products settings screen has changed between WooCommerce releases. Do not treat an old screenshot as a contract. Search the settings for “Redirect to the cart page” instead. If behavior changed after an update, inspect the wider checkout flow because a redirect regression is rarely caused by one checkbox alone.
Block-based product listings, carts, and checkouts can handle add-to-cart interactions through their own front-end code. The classic setting may still be visible while the rendered block follows a different request path. Test the actual storefront behavior before assuming the checkbox governs it. If it does not, control the redirect deliberately in code.
Many themes and page builders ship their own add-to-cart behavior: quick views, side-cart drawers, and custom AJAX handlers. Those layers can replace the standard WooCommerce redirect before it reaches the browser. Check these places first:
A useful isolation test is to switch briefly to a default WordPress theme and repeat one add-to-cart action. If the redirect returns, the override belongs to the original theme or one of its integrations.
When the cart redirect setting does not match the required flow, `woocommerce_add_to_cart_redirect` provides the destination URL for non-AJAX add-to-cart requests. Return a URL and WooCommerce uses it as the redirect target. Put production customizations in a small custom plugin or child theme, never in an updateable parent theme.
For a deliberate direct-to-checkout flow, return the checkout URL:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_add_to_cart_redirect', 'sm_redirect_to_checkout' );
function sm_redirect_to_checkout( $url ) {
return wc_get_checkout_url();
}`wc_get_checkout_url()` resolves the checkout page configured for the store, rather than relying on a hard-coded path.
The same filter can send a standard request to a controlled destination, including a campaign page or custom cart template:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_add_to_cart_redirect', 'sm_redirect_custom' );
function sm_redirect_custom( $url ) {
return home_url( '/your-page/' );
}The filter also receives the product that was added, so the destination can vary by catalog rule. This example sends products in one category to checkout and leaves every other product on the default path:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_add_to_cart_redirect', 'sm_redirect_by_category', 10, 2 );
function sm_redirect_by_category( $url, $product ) {
if ( ! $product ) {
return $url;
}
if ( has_term( 'memberships', 'product_cat', $product->get_id() ) ) {
return wc_get_checkout_url();
}
return $url;
}Returning the original `$url` matters. It preserves WooCommerce’s default behavior and avoids imposing a redirect on products outside the rule.
Two AJAX Handlers Add the Same Product
Cached Pages Return Stale Cart State
Variable Products Follow a Different Route
The Mini Cart Does Not Refresh
Add-to-cart behavior sits at the entrance to the purchase path. Verify the full browser journey, not just whether the first click redirects:
The manual workflow is covered in our guide to testing a WooCommerce checkout flow.
ShopMonitor tests configured browser checkout and form paths, then alerts when a run fails. It verifies the browser checkout and thank-you path, so you can catch a flow regression after a settings or theme change.
ShopMonitor runs browser-based checkout and form tests and alerts you when a configured path fails. It verifies the browser checkout and thank-you path.
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About the Author
Written by the team at Winning Solutions, the agency behind ShopMonitor. We help WooCommerce teams validate purchase paths after settings, plugin, and theme changes.