By default, most WordPress themes have a generic disclaimer in the footer, but this can make your site look unprofessional. It also leaves less space for your own links, copyright notices, and other content.
Whether you are looking to declutter your footer or add your own branding, removing the default WordPress credit is straightforward and improves the overall look of your site.
Through our extensive experience in building WordPress websites, we have recognized the importance of maintaining brand consistency. That’s why we strategically removed the ‘powered by WordPress’ footer link from our sites, including WPBeginner, WPForms, and MonsterInsights.
In this article, we will show you how to easily remove the ‘powered by WordPress’ footer links too.
Why Remove the WordPress Footer Credits?
Many different WordPress themes show a ‘Proudly powered by WordPress’ disclaimer in their website’s footer, which links to the official WordPress.org website.
Some theme developers take this further and add their own credits to the footer.
In the following image, you can see the disclaimer added by the Astra WordPress theme.
While great for software developers, this ‘Powered by….’ footer can make your site seem less professional, especially if you are running a business website.
It also lets hackers know that you are using WordPress, which could help them break into your site. For example, if you are not using a custom login URL, then hackers can simply add /wp-admin to your site’s address and get to your login page.
This disclaimer also links to an external site, encouraging people to leave your website. This can have a negative impact on your pageviews and bounce rate.
Is It Legal to Remove WordPress Footer Credit Links?
Removing the footer credits link on your site is perfectly legal because WordPress is free and released under the GPL license.
Basically, this license gives you the freedom to use, modify, and even distribute WordPress to other people.
Every WordPress plugin or theme that you download from the official WordPress directory is also released under the same GPL license. Even most commercial plugins and themes are released under GPL.
This means you are free to customize WordPress in any way you want, including removing the footer credits from your business website, online store, or blog.
With that in mind, let’s see how you can remove the ‘powered by WordPress’ footer links.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t want the video or need more instructions, then simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use:
Method 1: Using the Theme Settings (Quick and Easy)
Most good theme authors know that users want the option to edit the footer and remove the credit links, so many include it in their theme settings.
To see whether your theme has this option, go to Appearance » Customize in your WordPress admin dashboard.
This will open the theme customizer where you can now look for any settings that let you customize your site’s footer.
For example, the Astra theme has a section called ‘Footer Builder.’
If you are using this theme, then simply click on the ‘Footer’ section and select ‘Copyright.’
This opens a small editor where you can change the footer text or even delete it completely.
No matter how you remove the footer disclaimer, don’t forget to click on ‘Publish’ to make the change live on your site.
Method 2: Using the Full Site Editor (Works With Block-Based Themes)
If you are using a block-enabled WordPress theme, then you can remove the footer disclaimer using Full Site Editing (FSE).
This is a quick and easy way to remove the ‘Powered by’ credit across your entire site, although it won’t work with all themes.
To launch the editor, go to Appearance » Editor.
By default, the full site editor shows your theme’s home template.
In the left-hand menu, select ‘Patterns.’
This shows a list of all the patterns and template parts that make up your WordPress theme. Under ‘Template Parts,’ click on ‘Footer.’
This shows a thumbnail of your website’s footer. To see the footer, give the preview a click.
You’ll now see a preview of the theme’s template.
To edit the footer, go ahead and click on its pencil icon.
Next, select the ‘Powered by’ disclaimer.
You can now replace it with your own content or delete the disclaimer.
When you are happy with how the footer looks, simply click on ‘Save.’ Now, if you visit your site, then you’ll see the change live.
Method 3: How To Remove the ‘Powered by’ Disclaimer Using a Page Builder
Many WordPress websites use the footer to communicate important information such as their email address or phone number. In fact, visitors might scroll to the bottom of your site just to look for this content.
With that in mind, you may want to go one step further and replace the ‘Powered by’ text with a custom footer. This footer could contain links to your social media profiles, links to your affiliate marketing partners, a list of your products, or other important information and links.
This is how we use the footer area on WPBeginner:
The best way to create a custom footer is by using SeedProd. It is the best page builder plugin and comes with 100s of professionally designed templates, sections, and blocks that can help you customize every part of your website.
It also has settings that allow you to create a global footer, sidebar, header, and more.
First, you need to install and activate SeedProd. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Note: There’s also a free version of SeedProd that allows you to create all kinds of pages using the drag-and-drop editor, including a custom maintenance mode page. However, we will be using the premium version of SeedProd since it comes with the advanced Theme Builder.
After activating the plugin, SeedProd will ask for your license key.
You can find this information in your account on the SeedProd website. After entering the key, click on the ‘Verify Key’ button.
Once you’ve done that, go to SeedProd » Theme Builder. Here, click on the ‘Add New Theme Template’ button.
Pro Tip: SeedProd also has a growing library of professional website kits that you can use as the base for your custom theme. For more information, please see our guide on how to install template kits in WordPress.
In the popup, type in a name for the new theme template.
Once you’ve done that, open the ‘Type’ dropdown and choose ‘Footer.’
SeedProd will show the new footer template across your entire site by default. However, you can limit it to specific pages or posts using the ‘Conditions’ settings.
For example, you may want to exclude the new footer from your landing pages so it doesn’t distract from your main call to action.
When you are happy with the information you’ve entered, click on ‘Save.’ This will load the SeedProd page builder interface.
At first, your template will show a blank screen on the right and your settings on the left. To start, click on the ‘Add Columns’ icon.
You can now choose the layout that you want to use for the footer. This allows you to organize your content into different columns. For example, you might display your WordPress widgets in columns.
You can use any layout you want, but we are using a three-column layout in all our images.
Next, you can edit the footer’s background so that it matches your WordPress theme, company branding, or logo.
To change the background color, simply click on the section next to ‘Background Color’ and then use the controls to choose a new color.
Another option is to add a background image.
To do this, either click on ‘Use Your Own Image’ and then choose an image from the WordPress media library or click on ‘Use a stock image.’
When you are happy with the background, it’s time to add some content to the footer.
Simply drag any block from the left-hand menu and drop it onto your footer.
After adding a block, click to select that block in the main editor.
The left-hand menu will now show all the settings you can use to customize the block.
Simply keep repeating these steps to add more blocks to your footer. If you are not sure what blocks to use, then it may help to look at our checklist of things to add to the footer of your WordPress website.
You can also change where each block appears by dragging them around your layout.
When you are happy with your design, click on the ‘Save’ button.
Then, you can select ‘Publish’ to complete your design.
To make the new footer live on your WordPress blog, you’ll need to finish building your WordPress theme with SeedProd. For step-by-step instructions, please see our guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme.
After building your theme, go to SeedProd » Theme Builder. Then, click on the ‘Enable SeedProd Theme’ switch.
Now, if you visit your website, you’ll see the new footer live.
Method 4: Removing the WordPress Disclaimer Using Code
If you can’t see any way to remove or modify the footer credits in the WordPress customizer, then you can always edit the footer.php code.
This isn’t the most beginner-friendly method, but it will let you remove the credit from any WordPress theme.
Before making changes to your website’s code, we recommend creating a backup so you can restore your site in case anything goes wrong.
Keep in mind that if you edit your WordPress theme files directly, then those changes will disappear when you update the theme. With that being said, we recommend creating a child theme, as this allows you to update your WordPress theme without losing customization.
First, you need to connect to your WordPress site using an FTP client such as FileZilla, or you can use a file manager provided by your WordPress hosting company.
If this is your first time using FTP, then you can see our complete guide on how to connect to your site using FTP.
Once you’ve connected to your site, go to /wp-content/themes/ and then open the folder for your current theme or child theme.
Inside this folder, find the footer.php file and open it in a text editor such as Notepad.
In the text editor, look for a section of code that includes the ‘powered by’ text. For example, in the Twenty Twenty-One theme for WordPress, the code looks like this:
<div class="powered-by">
<?php
printf(
/* translators: %s: WordPress. */
esc_html__( 'Proudly powered by %s.', 'twentytwentyone' ),
'<a href="' . esc_attr__( 'https://wordpress.org/', 'twentytwentyone' ) . '">WordPress</a>'
);
?>
</div><!-- .powered-by -->
You can either delete this code entirely or customize it to suit your needs.
For example, you may want to replace the ‘Proudly powered…’ disclaimer with your own copyright notice.
After making your changes, save the file and upload it to your server. If you check your site, then the footer credit will have disappeared.
Warning! Avoid the CSS Method at All Costs!
Some WordPress tutorial sites may show you a CSS method that uses display: none to hide the footer credit links.
While this looks simple, it’s very bad for your WordPress SEO.
Many spammers use this exact technique to hide links from visitors while still showing them to Google in the hopes of getting higher rankings.
If you do hide the footer credit with CSS, then Google may flag you as a spammer, and your site will lose search engine rankings. In the worst-case scenario, Google may even delete your site from their index so it never appears in search results.
Instead, we strongly recommend using one of the other methods we showed above. If you can’t use any of these methods, then another option is hiring a WordPress developer to remove the footer credit for you, or you could change your WordPress theme.
We hope this article helped you remove the ‘powered by WordPress’ footer links. You may also want to check out our tutorial on how to fix the missing admin bar issue in WordPress and our list of vital tips to protect the WordPress admin area.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Adrian
Thanks! Very useful
WPBeginner Support
You’re welcome
Admin
George Oluwole
I tried to remove the powered by message and I got the following in return: omething went wrong. Your change may not have been saved. Please try again. There is also a chance that you may need to manually fix and upload the file over FTP. Maybe I didn’t know exactly what to remove. Please I need help.
WPBeginner Support
The editor in WordPress itself had a recent update to check for errors before allowing a file to be changed. That message means it couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t cause an error so it canceled the edit which means you would need to use your host’s file manager or FTP to edit the file.
It’s not saying you tried to remove the wrong code.
Admin
Adimas Putra
I am really happy to glad at this blog posts which carries tons of useful facts,
thanks for providing these kinds of data.
WPBeginner Support
Glad you find our content helpful
Admin
Roshni
Thank you, for this useful info.
In the Charity Care theme (child theme of Benevolent) footer is found at the bottom of the Functions.php page
(path wp=content => themes => charity-care => functions.php)
When I had contacted the theme support, they suggested to use #site-info {display:none}
WPBeginner Support
Thanks for sharing that for other readers
Admin
Lauri Crosley
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve be aware your stuff prior to and you are simply extremely fantastic. I actually like what you have bought here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which wherein you say it. You’re making it entertaining and you continue to care for to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to learn far more from you. This is really a tremendous site.
WPBeginner Support
Glad you’re enjoying our content and finding it helpful
Admin
Sekh Sahajahan
My sidebar is showing under my post body. How to take it back to the side.
Currently running on news pro Genesis child theme
WPBeginner Support
You may want to ensure your browser window is wide enough for it to go on the side of your content. If it continues to be below your content you would want to reach out to the theme’s support for them to assist.
Admin
Chukwu Sunday
Please how do I make the copy right change in highlight WordPress theme sir.
WPBeginner Support
You would first want to reach out to the theme’s specific support for if there is a built-in or recommended method for changing the copyright text.
Admin
shahab uddin
I am very please to read this. It is very helpful.
romanregions
thanks for Be that as it may, I like this connection fueled by WordPress. So I would prefer not to expel controlled by WordPress joins from my footer. Your article will be useful how need expel that connections from footer. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.
Hamza
hey dear how are you today
i have a WP site and i want to show results online by searching roll number.
i don’t want to upload result in my data base.
i have more then 10,00,000 results in excel sheet.
i want a code that get result from google sheet searching in column and show result by matching row.
thanks
Maliha khan
it is very helpful for all of us. thanks!
Simon
Actually damaged my website trying to follow the instructions in the php footer removal. Think I have to reinstall my theme now. I’m neither a programmer nor an idiot. But something in these instructions missed the mark.
Anon
Numer 1 rule of webdesign/programming: Always back up any file/files your working on, then if you make a mistake and can’t figure out where you went wrong you can simply overwrite and start again.
Preok
Yep, backing up is a MUST if you’re going to edit. #BestPractice
Harry
thanks for your nice information, but i think “Footer.php Code Method” is hard for non programmer like me.
Jeff
Is there a way to remove the Remove the Powered by WordPress with a Code Snippet?
Rizwan Ali
When i try to remove footer or change footer then my theme disturb i.e crash or does not work properly. what to do?
Maxwell
Usually it’s because you removed something vital like ‘ ‘, you only supposed to remove text inside the inverted commas. If you using a text editor with syntax highlighting it’ll be easier to figure out, another option will be to remove one word at a time and check if it’s successful
tony
what’s the benefit from removing it?
Qureshi Khan
I can not remove it from my blog
Mark Phelps
Too bad we can’t editor our comments. Now what, now what, now what!
kyle
If you just eliminate every footer tag, and div and what not. is that sufficient?
Mati
Hello,
I have question. I have theme Ultimate and I try try try delete footer links Powered by: Wordpress and Theme by: Themehorse.
I created child theme, I tried delete footer by using different codes but my action lost. I haven’t idea.
I know that this footer is invisible because the footer link is hide in “container” i think… I am green in programming :).
Please help,
Mati
Ehtisham
Hi, Wpbeginner , I have found a new method to delete “Powered by Name”
Just go to Appearance >>Editor and try to find footer.php (it’ll be on the right side under theme option)
Simply edit it’s powered by phase , update it and it’ll be removed
Ehtisham
Hi there , My theme is showing this at it’s footer
” WordPress Theme by MH Themes”
I’ve tried to find it’s code in footer.php even in functions and from every page as much i can see .But i’m unable to remove it.
I hope you have better solution for this..
Thanks
Heinrich
I’m having the same problem. Looked at many other files but can’t find where to remove it.
Tanagi
for all others who did not managed to edit their “powered” text , simply put the whole theme folder into an editing software like notepad++ and do a search for the term ” .site-info ” without the “” symbols. once you found the php section ,change the tag’s to whatever you want .
if you didnt find “.site-info” or it didnt change , probably your theme has already done it and changed its name , to find the new term for the search :
1. enter your website as a user using a chrome browser
2. right click on the credit text
3. choose inspect
4. the opened editor will show you the “tag” name replaced for .site-info
now, go back and commit a search on the theme folder
hope that helps
Linda
Very helpful, but the php page varies per theme. I found this text in Function.php in the Theme Astrid.
Georges
Thank you,
You Rock!
Paul
I have removed the code from the twenty sixteen theme for WordPress and the code still appears at the bottom of my page. Please advise me what to do. I use store theme
Paul
Hi, I use accesspress store and I’ve remove this default Twenty Sixteen theme for WordPress, the code looks like this entirely and the WordPress branding still shows at my footer, please what do I do?
01
02
10
<a href="” rel=”home”>
11
<a href="”>
12
WPBeginner Support
Hey Paul,
When copying the code you have copied the line numbers as well.
You will see a tiny Copy button at the top right corner of the code snippet. Click on it and you will see the raw code without line numbers.
Admin
Fajar
I just success in modifying footer.php via cPanel. But how about any theme upgrade in the next ?. Should the original link will appear again ?
Nick Hyatt
Fajar, if you have not created a Child Theme, then you are correct. As soon as the theme is updated, your customization of the footer.php file will be obliterated by the new version of the file.
I would recommend always creating a child theme for any project you are working on so that you don’t have to go back and redo changes previously made.
manas
How to remove footer credits in one press single page theme ??
jack
its very useful …..
Andrew
I use Fluida theme and found the “Powered by” text in the core.php file.
If you’re a beginner, it can be dangerous poking around in these files, as you can easily break stuff. So here’s how I found the line of text, and a safe way to get rid of it.
Download Notepad++. It’s freeware, and it’s awesome.
I downloaded a fresh, zipped version of my theme and unzipped everything into a folder.
Open Notepad++
Under the Search menu, there’s an option to Search in Files. choose this.
Then enter the text “powered by” (or whatever variation you’re after), choose the directory you just unzipped the theme into, then search.
As I said, I found it in core.php. Notepad++ tells me it was on line 208.
Go to the Editor section of WP, find the file (core.php in my case). Copy it all, and paste it into a blank Notepad++ doc. Go to line 208.
Don’t delete anything. Instead, comment out the lines you want to hide. Do this by adding // to the start of the line/s that contain the html code for the part of the footer you don’t want.
Here’s what mine looks like after I’ve added the // to the appropriate lines.
You can see these lines contain the “powered by” as well as the opening and closing of the links to WordPress. The line I left in is my copyright info, which I still want to show up.
It’s also important that you don’t try to comment out the whole section. This can break wordpress.
Hope this helps someone.
Leah
THANK YOU, Andrew! This was exactly what I needed. I didn’t end up needing Notepad thanks to your description of which php file to find it in and how to comment it out! I’m running a child theme and have been poking around for awhile trying to figure it out! Thanks again!
Pawan
Thank you very much man finally I got the solution. I was searching this from 3 days and you fixed it in 10 minutes. Thank you Again. God bless you.
Pawan.
WPBeginner Support
Hey Pawan,
Glad you found it useful
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for more WordPress tips and tutorials.
Admin
Ann
Thanks for this. I tried it but it doesn’t seem to work with the Rara Perfect Portfolio theme that I’m using. I get no hits at all.
I’ve also searched the them files in my C Panel with the same results. I can see the code if I use Chrome Inspect on the web page, but it seems to be hidden somehow in the files.
Any ideas please?
Annabel
This doesn’t help me either. I don’t have the text within the footer.php file. I want to use Amadeus but can’t remove the text.
Any ideas?
(ps great tutorial)
Jean Corson
I don’t understand half of what is being said on these answers, I am no techie I want completely off this site Help
Carl Duran
I don’t think so this feature is found in all themes directly from customization area?
BTW great post.
YOGESH
HELLO wpbeginner,
i am using clear commerce theme of wordpress how can i remove theme credit in which content “Clean Commerce by WEN Themes”,
please help !!!!
WPBeginner Support
Hi Yogesh,
Please contact your theme developer to learn how to do that safely without breaking your site.
Admin
Joe
Why remove teh Powered By WordPress link.?
It’s free software, and if you use it the least you can do is promote it.
Jual beli rumah
Its so helpful
david
it work fine, but i hope it will not affect the template, thanks for the info
Saad
No way to remove footer from customizer theme.
Footer.php
<footer id="footer" class="”>
Saad
Was not able to add full footer code due to limit on comments.
Mike Mahaffey
Wp Content themes
theme 2017
template parts
footer
site info
is where the credits are in 2017
Can I take out this line and replace with links to my pri/terms/contact pages?
<a href="”>
I know I can, because it works, but is this correct?
Thanks
WPBeginner Support
Hi Mike,
If it works and looks good, then it is OK to remove default credits from footer of your WordPress theme.
Admin
Mike Mahaffey
Thanks for this website…I use it constantly…..There is no such thing in my theme 2017 wordpress. Could you explain how to get to it here?
thanks again
Buddhika
This is such a great post. As always I’m getting help form wpbeginner.com , good luck and hoping more grateful article,
Thank you
Loraine Marshall
Hi WP beginner,
Just wanted to say thanks and give my appreciation for this post, it was top result in Google search today. November 15th 2016.
I’ve been online for years but still sometimes need to find out how to do something that is a bit more technical than usual. I can now get my editing done.
Loraine
WPBeginner Support
Hi Loraine,
Thanks for the kind words. Don’t forget to join us on Twitter for more WordPress tips and tutorials.
Admin
Nehemiah
Thank you for the post. What a blessing to help a friend in need.!!
Cheers friends.
On the same
Help me with a video tutorial in designing a real estate website. A website that is compact without much scrolling.
Alexander
Hello,
Pls how do I change footer credit for Wordpress theme: Talon?
Below is the content to footer.php
Thanks in advance.
Elizabeth
I’m using the Theme – Travel-Eye and cannot locate the words ‘Powered by Wordpres’ in the footer.php. Can anyone help with this please.
Much appreciated in advance.
Thanks
Nimesh
Hi friend’s,
This is a good post very helpful to the amature bloggers.
Now I am sharing a simple method for to do so.
Removing “powered by wordpress” from Footer of website template is very easy follow the steps:
1.login to your dashboard
2.go to appearance
3.click on editor
4.find footer.php
5.once code is visible find that unnecessary text and remove it.
6.if you can’t see that text then the developer of that template must be define function for it find it out.
7.now select that function from drop-down list.
8.againe you get to the code area, remove that extra text.
9.hit update.
You done
You can also replace that text with text that you want to display.
Nancy P
Thank you Nimesh! Your explanation is excellent & now I only have the copyright information I want without the Powered by message.
Paul Wesson
I like to inject some jQuery to replace the footer. The themes I use allow me to add header or body code to each page, so I add the following:
jQuery( document ).ready(function() {
jQuery(“#footer-info”).html(“Designed & Hosted by Paul Wesson | All Content © Paul Wesson”);
});
I should probably just create a plugin at some point to keep things simple.
Cheers
Paul
Munna Hossain
Helpful article. But I like this link powered by WordPress. So I do not want to remove powered by WordPress links from my footer. Your article will be helpful how want remove that links from footer. Thanks for sharing.
Francis
I tried removing mine from the Footer.php but couldn’t find it. I use Smartline Lite by ThemeZee. It is a free version of the theme. I think it was tweeked and need to upgrade before I can remove the credit. Any suggestion on how I can remove the credit?
maria
my footer looks diferrently ;-( how can i do?
Akshay Girhepuje
I coudn’t find it. The CSS method is of no use and the there nothing such in my theme. I am using free version of ColorMag. All I see is ” php do_action( ‘colormag_footer_copyright’ ) ”
Please help..!!
WPBeginner Support
You can remove the line
1-click Use in WordPress
Admin
Freddy
I have noticed removing such lines can break the footer altogether, getting rid of other parts such as widgets and so on.
Best is to locate where the actual footer credit is e.g. …/wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/template-parts/footer/site-info.php in the Twenty Seventeen theme, and removing it from there.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!