Managing the WordPress backend sidebar can greatly improve the admin experience — especially when working with clients or teams who only need access to specific areas. Instead of relying on plugins, you can take full control of the admin menu directly through your theme’s functions.php file.
In this post, we’ll walk through ready-to-use code snippets that let you hide unwanted menu items, reorder links to match your workflow, and rename labels to suit your project. Whether you’re building a client site or just cleaning up your own dashboard, these snippets are lightweight, plugin-free, and easy to customize.
Rearranging & Show/Hide WordPress Admin Sidebar Nav Links
You can customize the WordPress admin sidebar using hooks in your theme’s
functions.php file (or a custom plugin).Remove / Hide Admin Sidebar Links
Use the admin_menu hook with remove_menu_page() and remove_submenu_page():
Reorder / Rearrange Admin Sidebar Links
Use the
menu_order filter along with custom_menu_order:Rename Admin Sidebar Links
Common Menu Slugs & Their Default Positions
| Position | Menu Item | Slug |
|---|---|---|
2 | Dashboard | index.php |
5 | Posts | edit.php |
10 | Media | upload.php |
15 | Links | link-manager.php |
20 | Pages | edit.php?post_type=page |
25 | Comments | edit-comments.php |
60 | Appearance | themes.php |
65 | Plugins | plugins.php |
70 | Users | users.php |
75 | Tools | tools.php |
80 | Settings | options-general.php |
