diff --git a/docs/src/content/docs/reference/helm-chart-config.mdx b/docs/src/content/docs/reference/helm-chart-config.mdx
index 1165ae9e22..842441a25a 100644
--- a/docs/src/content/docs/reference/helm-chart-config.mdx
+++ b/docs/src/content/docs/reference/helm-chart-config.mdx
@@ -814,6 +814,12 @@ Each organism object has the following fields:
             <td></td>
             <td>If true, hides the field on the sequence details page.</td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+            <td>`hideInSearchResultsTable`</td>
+            <td>Boolean</td>
+            <td></td>
+            <td>If true, hides the field in the search results table (and makes it impossible to show).</td>
+        </tr>
         <tr>
             <td>`perSegment`</td>
             <td>Boolean</td>
diff --git a/kubernetes/loculus/templates/_common-metadata.tpl b/kubernetes/loculus/templates/_common-metadata.tpl
index 0503ef04bd..f0c99b2081 100644
--- a/kubernetes/loculus/templates/_common-metadata.tpl
+++ b/kubernetes/loculus/templates/_common-metadata.tpl
@@ -212,6 +212,9 @@ organisms:
   {{- if .initiallyVisible }}
   initiallyVisible: {{ .initiallyVisible }}
   {{- end }}
+  {{- if .hideInSearchResultsTable }}
+  hideInSearchResultsTable: {{ .hideInSearchResultsTable }}
+  {{- end }}
   {{- if or (or (eq .type "timestamp") (eq .type "date")) .rangeSearch }}
   rangeSearch: true
   {{- end }}
diff --git a/kubernetes/loculus/values.yaml b/kubernetes/loculus/values.yaml
index a1e16c28d2..7246bf9407 100644
--- a/kubernetes/loculus/values.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/loculus/values.yaml
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ defaultOrganismConfig: &defaultOrganismConfig
         displayName: Collection date (lower bound)
         type: date
         initiallyVisible: true
+        hideInSearchResultsTable: true
         header: Sample details
         preprocessing:
           function: parse_date_into_range
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ defaultOrganismConfig: &defaultOrganismConfig
         displayName: Collection date (upper bound)
         type: date
         initiallyVisible: true
+        hideInSearchResultsTable: true
         header: Sample details
         preprocessing:
           function: parse_date_into_range
@@ -1323,6 +1325,11 @@ defaultOrganisms:
           required: true
           type: string
           lineageSystem: pangoLineage
+        - name: hiddenField
+          displayName: "Hidden Field"
+          initiallyVisible: false
+          type: string
+          hideInSearchResultsTable: true
       website:
         tableColumns:
           - country
diff --git a/website/src/types/config.ts b/website/src/types/config.ts
index ae069935b4..9958f2979d 100644
--- a/website/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/website/src/types/config.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ export const metadata = z.object({
     type: metadataPossibleTypes,
     autocomplete: z.boolean().optional(),
     notSearchable: z.boolean().optional(),
+    hideInSearchResultsTable: z.boolean().optional(),
     customDisplay: customDisplay.optional(),
     truncateColumnDisplayTo: z.number().optional(),
     initiallyVisible: z.boolean().optional(),
diff --git a/website/src/utils/search.ts b/website/src/utils/search.ts
index 0b04ecf030..430e8ab3ca 100644
--- a/website/src/utils/search.ts
+++ b/website/src/utils/search.ts
@@ -97,9 +97,7 @@ export const getFieldVisibilitiesFromQuery = (schema: Schema, state: Record<stri
 
 export const getColumnVisibilitiesFromQuery = (schema: Schema, state: Record<string, string>): Map<string, boolean> => {
     const initiallyVisibleAccessor: InitialVisibilityAccessor = (field) => schema.tableColumns.includes(field.name);
-    // hacky, fix later -- https://github.com/loculus-project/loculus/issues/3325
-    const isFieldSelectable: VisiblitySelectableAccessor = (field) =>
-        field.name !== 'sampleCollectionDateRangeUpper' && field.name !== 'sampleCollectionDateRangeLower';
+    const isFieldSelectable: VisiblitySelectableAccessor = (field) => !(field.hideInSearchResultsTable ?? false);
     return getFieldOrColumnVisibilitiesFromQuery(
         schema,
         state,
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ export const getColumnVisibilitiesFromQuery = (schema: Schema, state: Record<str
 };
 
 export const getMetadataSchemaWithExpandedRanges = (metadataSchema: Metadata[]): MetadataFilter[] => {
-    const result = [];
+    const result: MetadataFilter[] = [];
     for (const field of metadataSchema) {
         if (field.rangeOverlapSearch) {
             const fieldGroupProps = {
diff --git a/website/tests/pages/search/index.spec.ts b/website/tests/pages/search/index.spec.ts
index 320038e89a..36577b91e3 100644
--- a/website/tests/pages/search/index.spec.ts
+++ b/website/tests/pages/search/index.spec.ts
@@ -149,4 +149,12 @@ test.describe('The search page', () => {
 
         expect(filePath).toBeTruthy();
     });
+
+    test('should show visible columns and hide others in the customization modal', async ({ searchPage, page }) => {
+        await searchPage.goto();
+        await page.getByText('Customize columns').click();
+        void page.getByText('Toggle the visibility of columns').waitFor();
+        void expect(page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Pango lineage' })).toBeVisible();
+        void expect(page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Hidden Field' })).not.toBeVisible();
+    });
 });