WordPress Theme editor missing: How to Fix It

Is your theme editor not showing in WordPress? You need to make a few changes but the theme editor along with all of its content is missing in WordPress? Believe it or not, you are not alone! The WordPress theme editor can suddenly go missing and there are usually a few common culprits behind it. Of course, there are advanced solutions that will sometimes be necessary in order to arrive at the solution.

But why complicate the matters when the problem will most likely be solved with a few very simple and basic actions? Today, our team that’s an expert in all things WordPress-related will give you both the basic and the advanced ways to fix the problem of a missing WordPress theme editor. We have no doubt that at least one of them will turn out to be sufficient.

Clear browser caches

How much do you know about browser caching? You’ve probably heard of it before and you might even know how it works and what it means. But you might not know that it’s the starting point behind solving a lot of problems website owners encounter.

A man working on a laptop.
Start by clearing the browser history and work your way to other more advanced solutions.

When you open Chrome, click on the three little dots at the top right corner. Once you locate ‘Clear browsing data‘ feel free to click on it and select the time frame. For example, if you click from the beginning of time, your entire browsing history will be deleted. If the theme editor doesn’t appear after this and, let’s be real, there are high chances that it won’t, feel free to proceed to step 2 of this guide. In most, cases it’s all that stands between you and the solution to the problem.

Is your theme editor not showing in WordPress? Then deactivate all plugins!

If you are frequent on our blog, then you have probably learned by now that WordPress plugins are a great way to add a plethora of different features to your website. They can help you do just about anything – from helping you create an accessible WordPress website to helping you keep it secure, the sky is the limit for the best plugins on the market.

However, the problem with plugins is that not all of them work well with each other. Once a compatibility issue between different plugins arises, your entire website could go haywire, causing issues such as the missing WordPress theme editor. So to fix the issue, deactivate all the plugins for the time being. If the theme editor shows up, that means that the problem was to be found in incompatibility.

You can now slowly go through your list of plugins, activating them one by one and following the results. It’s important to note that the theme editor usually goes missing because it is being blocked by a security plugin. Since a lot of WordPress users use iThemes Security, disabling it will usually be enough to solve the problem. But if it persists, feel free to go through your plugins one by one.

A fingerprint on a security sign.
For a quick and simple solution, check whether the security plugins are behind the theme editor not showing in WordPress.

If you disable every plugin and your WordPress theme editor is still nowhere to be found, it’s not a cause for worry. At least not yet. There are a couple of other things to try before crying out for professional help.

Changing settings in wp-config.php file

In case the previous two solutions did nothing for your problem of theme editor not showing in WordPress, you now have the third option. And this was one is just as easy as the previous two, as all you have to do is change just one setting in wp-config.php file. However, we understand the reluctance people feel when having to change code or change settings. And that’s quite a responsible thing to do, as thorough WordPress maintenance should be left to professionals. However, feel free to proceed with this one, as we are about to give you a step by step explanation.

For starters, go to WP File Manager if you have it installed and activated. If not, that’s your first step. Once you access the manager, right-click the wp-config.php file. Choose Code Editor from the menu and look for a line: define (‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, true). All you have to do is replace the word true with false so that it ends up looking: define (‘DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT’, false).

Once you click on Save & Close, clear the cache and see whether the situation has improved. In the majority of cases, either a change in a wp-config.php file or the deactivation of the plugin should do the trick of a missing WordPress editor. But if it doesn’t, there’s one more thing you can do.

Changing settings - a way to solve the problem of theme editor not showing in WordPress.
It can be scary to change pre-designed settings. That’s completely normal.

The installation of the advanced TinyMCE plugin

As an extended version of the TinyMCE script, this plugin is certainly a useful tool to have. This plugin will extend and enhance both the Classic and the Gutenberg Editor, helping you fix the problem. We gave you four viable, working solutions. Feel free to go about them in the order you see fit and keep going until you arrive at a solution to your problem.

Have you fixed the issue of a missing WordPress theme editor?

We sure hope we helped you fix the issue of theme editor not showing in WordPress. After all, we gave you four possible solutions to a problem a lot of WordPress website owners face. I definitely don’t think that you are alone in this, as this is quite a common issue that arises due to many causes. But because it disables some very important functions without which your website couldn’t function, we know that it’s important to find a quick and valid solution. For any other WordPress related problems that you may have, simply browse through our blog or get in touch with us. Maintaining WordPress websites is what we do best!

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