How to Remove the Sidebar on Your WordPress Website
January 11. 2023
Most WordPress themes come with a sidebar, a column of content that can be displayed to the left, right, or beneath the main body of text, included by default. WordPress also gives you the option to customize your sidebar to feature anything you want. From recent blog articles and social media feeds to adverts and featured authors, whatever you feel fits the best. However, the sidebar is not something you necessarily need on every page of your website. In fact, our experienced team of WordPress pros suggests that a sidebar can make certain pages feel cramped and too much. So why not then remove the sidebar on your WordPress website? We’ve consulted experts in all things WordPress and here’s how to do this. But first, let’s find out why you should remove the sidebar in the first place.
Why should you remove the sidebar on your WordPress website?
By default, most free and premium WordPress themes come with many sidebars or widget-ready areas. You can use sidebars to display information that isn’t central to the page or post itself. For example, a list of recent posts, advertisements, and email list signup forms. You can also customize your sidebar and, for instance, create a collapsible sidebar menu and there are plenty of widgets that make it simple to include content in the sidebar.
Most WordPress themes come with a responsive sidebar. This means that the sidebar adjusts its appearance based on whether a user is accessing the site from a desktop computer or a mobile device. WordPress usually shifts the sidebars to the bottom of the screen due to smaller screens on smartphones and tablets.
This may or may not make sense depending on the design of your site. Your site’s UX and conversion rate may take a hit if visitors are forced to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to access the sidebar. Even on a desktop, the sidebar can look awkward or divert attention away from the page’s CTA or other crucial elements.
For those reasons, you might decide to remove the sidebar on your WordPress website. Sure, this is something you can get as a part of your customized support for your WordPress website. However, if you want to do this on your own, continue reading, as that’s exactly what you’ll find out.
Simple ways to remove the sidebar on your WordPress website
Now let’s check out how to get rid of the sidebar in WordPress. In this article, we’ll teach you how to remove the sidebar on your WordPress website using:
- Your WordPress theme settings
- The full-site editor
- Code
#1 Remove the sidebar using your WordPress theme settings
A lot of WordPress themes come with a built-in option to disable the sidebars. Depending on your theme, you can either disable them completely or just on specific pages or posts. To make sure these options are available for your theme, you simply need to launch the theme customizer – go to Appearance » Customize on your WordPress dashboard.
In the menu’s left-hand column, you should look for an option “Sidebar” or anything similar. When accessing this page, you’ll access the Sidebar settings, and depending on the theme you’re using, the option for removing the sidebar might be a pull-down menu, thumbnail images of the various sidebar layout, or something else.
In case your theme doesn’t have “Sidebar” settings available, look for this option under the “Page” or similar area. Here, you’ll be able to find several layouts to choose from. In order to remove the sidebar, choose the ones titled “No sidebar” or “Full Width/Stretched”. Oh and don’t forget to click on publish once you’re done.
Some WordPress themes may additionally feature options to disable the sidebar on specific pages and posts. This is especially useful when designing a landing page or similar. To check if your theme has this option, simply edit any page or post. Choose “Post” or “Page” from the menu on the right, and then look for a “Post Settings” or “Page Settings” option.
It’s important to remember that the sidebar can’t always be removed in the WordPress customizer or page editor. If that’s the case, keep reading and you’ll learn about some additional options for getting rid of the sidebar in WordPress.
#2 Remove the sidebar using the full site editor
If you are running a block-based theme, you can easily remove the sidebar by using the block editor and full site editing (FSE). This is a fast and simple solution to get rid of the sidebar everywhere on your site. However, do keep in mind that it won’t work with every theme.
To access these settings, go to Appearance » Editor, and there, you can click to select the sidebar. This will make a small toolbar appear and here, you should click on the dot icon. Here, you’ll be able to see “Remove Column” or a similar button. By clicking on it, you’ll remove the sidebar from your website. Just don’t forget to clock on the “Save” button first.
#3 Remove the sidebar using a code
Lastly, you can remove the sidebar on your website by using a code. It’s not the most user-friendly choice because it requires you to modify your theme’s files. However, even if your WordPress theme doesn’t have a built-in option to hide the sidebar, this solution should still work. You will only need to install an FTP client such as FileZilla.
After you connect your WordPress website and the FTP client you need to access /wp-content/themes/ and open the folder for your current WordPress theme. Due to the fact that WordPress themes are constructed from separate templates, you will need to modify each and every template that features a sidebar.
To edit any of the files, you will need to open a template using a notepad or a similar app. Here, look for a code that looks like this:
1 <pre class=”wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code”>
2 <?php get_sidebar(); ?>
3 </pre>
Simply delete the line that has the sidebar mentioned in it and you’re good to go. Check that specific page on your website and you’ll see your sidebar is gone now.
The bottom line
As you can see, there are plenty of easy methods to choose from in order to quickly remove the sidebar on your WordPress website. Of course, you can always choose the easiest way and contact an experienced WP Full Care team to take care of this (and so much more) for you. By doing this, you’ll have more time to focus on other aspects of your business and thus help it grow and quickly reach its full potential.