WordPress Gutenberg: How to Disable the WordPress Block Editor

How to Disable the WordPress Block Editor

If you find it hard to adjust to the Gutenberg page builder, WordPress provides some options to deactivate it completely – by installing a plugin or editing the functions.php file.

A plugin like Classic Editor is a quick solution, as it will automatically disable Gutenberg upon activation.

To deactivate the block editor for specific post types or user roles, use the Disable Gutenberg plugin. By default, it will turn off Gutenberg entirely on your WordPress site. However, unchecking the Complete Disable option in the plugin settings will deactivate it only for certain roles, posts, templates, or post IDs.

Alternatively, add a code snippet to your functions.php file. Here’s how to do it via hPanel:

1. Access the File Manager, then open the public_html folder.
2. Select wp-content → themes.
3. Click on your active theme’s folder and select the functions.php file.
4. Add the following code to the file before the last line:

add_filter('use_block_editor_for_post', '__return_false');

5. Save and close the file. Now, you can use the classic editor to create posts and pages.

If you are uncomfortable with editing code yourself, install the Code Snippets plugin:

1. After activating the plugin, go to Snippets → Add New on the dashboard.
2. Name the snippet, such as “Disable Gutenberg,” and paste the code above into the Functions PHP tab.
3. Choose Only run in administration area, and click Save Changes and Activate.

Note that disabling the block editor is a temporary solution, as Gutenberg is now the default editor on the WordPress platform.

As WordPress continues to evolve, the Gutenberg project will introduce new features for the block editor. To ensure you make the most out of this CMS, we recommend transitioning away from the classic editor and leveraging more of the Gutenberg editor.