Editing headers & footers in Elementor
Learn how to find and edit your site's header and footer using the Elementor Theme Builder, and what changes are safe to make yourself.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- You’ll need
- Elementor Pro installed · WordPress administrator access
Your header (the navigation bar at the top) and footer (the content at the bottom of the page) usually appear on every page of your site. This guide explains how to find and edit them in Elementor.
Quick summary
Headers and footers are edited through the Elementor Theme Builder, not through regular page editing. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Elementor > Theme Builder to find and open them. When you click Update, the change applies to every page that uses that header or footer.
What you'll need
- Elementor Pro installed
- WordPress administrator access (other user roles may not be able to open the Theme Builder)
How to open the header for editing
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Elementor > Theme Builder in the left menu. On older versions of Elementor, it's under Templates > Theme Builder.
Click "Header" in the Theme Builder's list of site parts.
Find your header's card in the right-hand pane.
Click "Edit" in the upper-right corner of the card. Elementor opens with the header template.
Make your edits. The header layout behaves like any Elementor page.
Click "Update" (it may say "Publish") when you are done. The change goes live on every page that uses this header.
You can also reach the header while editing a normal page: click inside it, and Elementor switches to editing the header. It asks you to save the page first.
How to open the footer for editing
The process is identical to editing the header:
Go to Elementor > Theme Builder in your WordPress dashboard.
Click "Footer" and find your footer's card.
Click Edit.
Make changes in Elementor.
Click Update (or Publish).
Common header edits
These changes are straightforward and safe to make yourself:
- Phone number or contact detail — click the text widget showing it and update
- Tagline or short text under the logo — click and edit the text widget
- Button label or link in the header — click the button and update it in the Content tab (called General on newer V4 elements)
- Social icons — click the Social Icons widget, open each icon's item in the Content tab, and update its link
- Logo — where you change it depends on the widget (see the logo question under Common questions below)
Be careful with navigation menus
How you change menu items (add a page, rename a link, create a dropdown) depends on which widget your header uses. The WordPress Menu widget shows a menu built in WordPress, so you change that menu under Appearance > Menus. Elementor's newer Menu widget keeps its menu items inside the widget itself. Contact us if you are unsure.
Common footer edits
Footers typically contain:
- Your business address, phone, and email
- Navigation links (quick links or footer menu)
- Social media icons
- Copyright notice
- Privacy policy or legal links
All of these can be edited by clicking the relevant widget in the footer template and updating the text or link.
Updating the copyright year
Open the footer template in the Theme Builder.
Find the copyright text widget (usually at the bottom of the footer).
Click to edit it. Update the year in the text.
Click Update. Done.
Dynamic copyright years
Some sites use a dynamic tag to show the current year automatically — if yours does, you never need to update the copyright year manually.
What NOT to change yourself
We recommend leaving these to Chykalophia:
- The overall layout and column structure of headers/footers
- Creating a new header or footer from scratch
- Adding a sticky header (one that stays visible as you scroll)
- Setting up different headers for different pages (display conditions)
- Any changes to the navigation menu structure with dropdowns
These changes are complex and can break the layout in unexpected ways. Contact us and we will handle them properly.
Common questions
I made a change to the header and now it looks wrong — how do I undo?
For a recent change, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac). To go back further, open the header template in Elementor and click the History icon (a clock with a counter-clockwise arrow) on the left of the top bar. Open the Revisions tab and select a version from before your change (click Apply if Elementor asks). Then click Update to make sure the restored version is live. If that does not work, contact us immediately.
I can't find the Theme Builder in my WordPress menu — why?
Look under Elementor > Theme Builder. Elementor moved several menu items in January 2026, so on sites that haven't been updated it may still be under Templates > Theme Builder. Creating and editing headers and footers there needs Elementor Pro. Without Pro, the Theme Builder only shows which site parts Pro would add, and your header and footer may be controlled through a different mechanism. Contact us to find out.
The logo in the header is wrong — how do I change it?
This depends on how the header was built. If there is a Site Logo widget, it shows the logo set in Elementor's Site Settings (or the WordPress Customizer): click the Elementor logo in the top-left corner of the editor, choose Site Settings, open Site Identity, and choose a new Site Logo from the Media Library. You can also replace it with the Change Site Logo button in the widget's Content tab. If the logo is inside an Image widget, click the image and use the Media Library to select a new one. See How to edit & swap images.
Related guides
- The Theme Builder, explained
- Editing buttons & links
- How to edit & swap images
- How to edit text in Elementor
- Undoing changes with revision history
- Troubleshooting Elementor problems
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