How do I disable the private note option?

It is not possible by default, there is no setting to disable one of the options.

If you wanted to do this, it would require some custom code. Our team doesn’t provide support for that but if you’d like to pursue that option I’d recommend either:

Check sites like https://www.codeable.io for a skilled third-party developer that you could hire.

Or

If you already have access to a developer, they can join the WooCommerce Developer Slack

I would like to deactivate the private note

Backup the file (make a duplicate copy of the file)

/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/meta-boxes/class-wc-meta-box-order-notes.php

Edit the file, around line number 40

comment out the line

<option value=""><?php esc_html_e( 'Private note', 'woocommerce' ); ?></option>

like

<!--<option value=""><?php esc_html_e( 'Private note', 'woocommerce' ); ?></option>-->

Please keep in mind that changes made directly to a plugin’s code (including WooCommerce) will typically be lost when you update that plugin.

It’s best to make changes in a stand-alone plugin so that they aren’t lost when updating, as well as allowing you to easily revert the change in case they cause a problem.

Hi there,

I hope you found the previous reply helpful. We haven’t heard back from you in a while, so I’m going to mark this as resolved – if you have any further questions, you can start a new thread.