GDPR / Express checkout

Hello @markisu72

You can do that by disabling Express Checkout on cart and checkout via PHP. When Express is disabled, smartButtonsEnabled becomes false, and the PayPal SDK will not be loaded at all.

Here is the snippet:

add_filter(  
    'woocommerce_paypal_payments_selected_button_locations',  
    function( array $locations, string $setting_name ): array {  

        if ( is_cart() || is_checkout() ) {  
            // Remove Express Checkout from cart and checkout  
            $locations = array_diff(  
                $locations,  
                array( 'checkout-block-express', 'cart', 'cart-block' )  
            );  
        }  

        return $locations;  
    },  
    10,  
    2  
);

It disables Express Checkout on the cart and checkout pages. As a result, PayPal buttons are not initialized, and PayPal SDK script is never loaded (even though the wrapper JS file is still present)

Kind Regards
Krystian

Hello @markisu72

The only thing is, it seems to also disable the standard Paypal option where you get redirected to PayPal…

On my end, the redirect works just fine. If the standard PayPal redirect is disappearing, that’s likely a separate configuration issue, not caused by the filter snippet.

The filter snippet removes 'checkout-block-express', 'cart', and 'cart-block' but not 'checkout'. The DisableGateways class only removes PayPalGateway (ppcp-gateway) from the checkout if smart buttons are disabled for the 'checkout' location AND the cart contains a subscription – verify that part on your end.

To disable ACDC without touching express buttons or the standard PayPal gateway:

// Disable ACDC entirely:  
add_filter( 'woocommerce_paypal_payments_card_payments_disabled', '__return_true' );  
  
// Or just disable the card payment enabled flag:  
add_filter( 'woocommerce_paypal_payments_is_card_payment_enabled', '__return_false' );

Try these filters.

Kind regards,
Krystian

Hello @markisu72

When PayPal buttons are displayed, the plugin loads the PayPal SDK from paypal.com (sdk/js), just for rendering the option. Only workaround to avoid any connection to PayPal just for rendering, there is a built-in way to switch to a pure redirect flow (no SDK loaded):

add_filter( 'woocommerce_paypal_payments_use_place_order_button', '__return_true' );

With this filter enabled the PayPal SDK is not loaded, but the checkout uses a standard “Place order / Proceed to PayPal” button. So effectively, this removes any PayPal dependency during page rendering and only triggers it on user action.

Kind Regards,
Krystian

Hello @markisu72

Let us know how it goes.

If this helped and you’re happy with the support, feel free to leave a quick review on WordPress. It means a lot to us and shows that we are needed as support.

Kind regards,
Krystian

Hello @markisu72

The reason you still see the SDK being loaded is that it’s not only used by the PayPal express buttons. Other features like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Fastlane (advanced card fields) can trigger the SDK independently. So even if you disable express buttons via the filter, the SDK may still be present because one of those features is still active.

If goal is to completely prevent the SDK from loading, we’d need to additionally disable all features that depend on it.

PS: I found a (minor) bug regarding the settings … when disabling PayPal express completely on the checkout page without also unchecking Apple Pay and Google Pay, yes, there are no express buttons being shown, but still the empty express frame… if you uncheck Apple and Google Pay and then disable express buttons, the frame disappears

Thanks for sharing, I will make an issue for this.

Kind regards,
Krystian