Can’t unrestrict a category

I restricted a WooCommerce Product Category to a specific Group. That worked ok.
BUT when I remove/delete the Product Category restriction it still remains restricted.
The restrict field shows as blank. I deactivated cache plugin, even Deactivated the Groups Restrict Plugin (not remove, just deactivated). I also changed themes and that did not solve issue either. I can’t get the Product Category to unrestrict so any site visitor ca access it. Nothing i do will fix the issue. I am using latest version of WP.

I even tried creating a new Product Category (which I did not restrict) and re-assigned a product to it. It worked ok (unrestricted). But then I tested restricting the Product category and then unrestricting it… it did the same thing , the removal of the restriction did not work.

how to fix?

thanks!!