How to Disable Rich Pins on Pinterest

Rich pins sound like a good thing on paper. They automatically pull extra information from your website and display it alongside your pin, things like your post title, meta description, and other metadata. But there are real situations where disabling them is the smarter move, and the process is not as simple as flipping a switch inside Pinterest itself.

If your rich pin data is displaying incorrectly, overriding the descriptions you’ve carefully written for your pins, or if you’ve changed your site structure and the pulled data is now outdated, disabling rich pins gives you back control over what shows up in the feed. Here’s how to do it.

What rich pins are and why you might want them off

Rich pins are a Pinterest feature that pulls structured data from your website and displays it directly on the pin. For blog posts, this means Pinterest reads your page title, description, and author information. For recipe posts, it can pull ingredient lists and cooking times. For product pins, it shows pricing and availability.

The problem is that rich pins pull whatever metadata is on your page, not necessarily what you wrote in your pin description. If your site has poorly optimized meta descriptions, outdated page titles, or schema markup that doesn’t play nicely with Pinterest’s data reader, the rich pin data ends up being the wrong thing entirely.

Some bloggers also find that adding keywords to their Pinterest pins becomes less effective when rich pins override their carefully crafted descriptions. When the description field gets replaced by pulled site metadata, the keyword strategy you built for Pinterest can get undermined. Disabling rich pins lets you write the exact text that appears with every pin, without interference from your site’s metadata.

How to disable rich pins by editing your website header

This is the most direct method and works regardless of what CMS or hosting setup you’re using. You add a single meta tag to your site’s HTML header that tells Pinterest not to read your pages as rich pin sources.

The tag you need to add is: <meta name=”pinterest-rich-pin” content=”false” />

If you’re on WordPress, the simplest way to add this is through a plugin that gives you access to the HTML head section. The “Head, Footer and Post Injections” plugin works well for this, as does “Insert Headers and Footers.” Install one, paste the meta tag into the header section, and save. No coding beyond that required.

If you have access to your theme files, you can also add the tag directly to your header.php file, but the plugin route is safer for most people since it won’t get overwritten when you update your theme.

How to disable rich pins through your SEO plugin

If you’re using Yoast SEO or Rank Math (both common on WordPress), you can disable Pinterest’s rich pin data by turning off the Open Graph tags these plugins generate. Rich pins read Open Graph markup to pull your page data, so removing it cuts off the data source.

In Yoast SEO, go to Yoast SEO in your dashboard, then Social, then Facebook. The Open Graph metadata toggle controls whether Yoast outputs the tags Pinterest reads. Turning it off stops Pinterest from pulling structured data from your pages.

In Rank Math, go to Rank Math in your dashboard, then General Settings, then Links. Look for the Open Graph or social meta settings. Rank Math also has per-post Open Graph settings in the sidebar of each post editor, so you can disable it on a post-by-post basis if you only want to turn off rich pins for specific content rather than your whole site.

One thing to be aware of: turning off Open Graph tags site-wide affects how your content appears when shared on other platforms too, not just Pinterest. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all use Open Graph tags for link previews. If you want to disable rich pins without affecting social sharing elsewhere, the dedicated Pinterest meta tag method above is the better route since it only targets Pinterest specifically.

What happens after you disable rich pins

After making the change to your site, you won’t see an immediate difference on Pinterest. The platform caches rich pin data and doesn’t scrape sites in real time. Plan for a delay of up to 72 hours before the change takes effect on existing pins, and potentially longer for older cached pins.

Clear your site’s cache immediately after making the change. If you’re using WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or any other caching plugin, clear it so Pinterest gets the updated header tags the next time it crawls your site rather than a cached version of the old data.

To verify the change worked, pin a new piece of content after 72 hours and check whether additional metadata (like pulled descriptions or author info) appears alongside the pin. If the pin shows only what you wrote in the pin description field, the rich data has been successfully removed. Getting more saves on Pinterest becomes more predictable once you control exactly what text accompanies each pin.

Should you actually disable rich pins?

Not everyone should. Rich pins were designed to add useful context to pins and Pinterest still recommends them for most accounts. If your site’s metadata is clean, your page titles are optimized, and the data Pinterest pulls from your pages is accurate and relevant, rich pins can add value to how your content appears in the feed.

The cases where disabling makes sense are specific. Your pulled descriptions are overriding your pin keyword strategy. Your page metadata is messy, outdated, or inconsistent. You’ve changed your site structure and old rich pin data is still appearing on pins. Or you run a type of content where rich pins don’t add useful information and you’d rather control the full pin presentation manually.

Either way, the change is reversible. If you disable rich pins and decide you want them back, you remove the meta tag (or re-enable Open Graph tags), clear the cache, and Pinterest picks up the rich data again on its next crawl. Driving traffic from Pinterest depends more on consistent pinning and keyword targeting than on whether rich pins are on or off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I disable rich pins directly from Pinterest?
No. Pinterest doesn’t have a toggle inside your account settings to turn off rich pins. The change has to be made on your website by removing the meta tags Pinterest reads to generate rich pin data.

How long does it take for rich pins to stop showing after I disable them?
Pinterest caches data, so expect up to 72 hours before the change is visible on new pins. Existing older pins may keep their cached rich data for longer. Clearing your site cache speeds up the process on your end.

Will disabling rich pins hurt my Pinterest reach?
There’s no clear evidence that rich pins directly improve reach or engagement. Some bloggers report better results after disabling them because they regain control of their pin descriptions. Others see no change. It’s not a significant ranking factor either way.

Can I disable rich pins for just one post instead of my whole site?
Yes. Using Rank Math, you can disable Pinterest Open Graph data on a per-post basis through the post editor’s SEO panel. This lets you control rich pin behavior post by post rather than making a site-wide change.

Does disabling rich pins affect how my content looks on Facebook or Twitter?
If you disable rich pins by removing Open Graph tags through your SEO plugin, yes. Other platforms also use Open Graph for link previews. To avoid that, use the Pinterest-specific meta tag method instead, which only affects Pinterest.

Can I re-enable rich pins after disabling them?
Yes. Remove the disabling meta tag (or re-enable Open Graph tags), clear your cache, and continue optimizing your Pinterest graphics. Pinterest will start reading your site data again within a day or two.

Wrapping Up

Disabling rich pins is a small but meaningful way to take back control of how your content presents on Pinterest. The process lives on your website side, not inside Pinterest, which trips a lot of people up initially. Once you know that, the fix is simple: add the meta tag or adjust your SEO plugin settings, clear your cache, and give it a few days.

Whether rich pins are helping or hurting your account depends entirely on the quality of your site’s metadata. If you’re putting effort into growing Pinterest traffic and your pin descriptions are being overridden by messy site data, turning them off is worth testing. If your metadata is clean and rich pins are displaying accurately, leave them on and focus your energy elsewhere.