How to edit your navigation menu
Step-by-step instructions for adding, removing, and reordering links in your WordPress navigation menu using the Customizer or the Site Editor.
Your navigation menu is the row of links at the top of your website. It helps visitors find what they're looking for — and keeping it up to date is one of the most common tasks in WordPress.
Quick summary
How you edit your menu depends on your theme. Classic themes use Appearance → Menus or Appearance → Customize → Menus. Block themes (the newer kind) use Appearance → Editor and let you edit the navigation block directly. If you're unsure which type you have, follow the classic route first — you'll see an error message if it doesn't apply to your site.
What you'll need
Beginner 5–10 minutes- Editor or Administrator access to your WordPress site
- To know which pages you want to add or remove
Which method do you need?
Classic themes — including most themes built before 2022 and popular themes like Divi, Astra, GeneratePress, and OceanWP — use the traditional menu screen.
In your dashboard, go to Appearance → Menus. If you see a full menu builder with drag-and-drop, you're on a classic theme. Follow the steps below.
Block themes — including WordPress's built-in Twenty Twenty-Two, Twenty Twenty-Three, Twenty Twenty-Four, and many modern themes — use the Site Editor instead.
In your dashboard, go to Appearance → Editor. If you see a visual canvas with your full site, you're on a block theme. See using the WordPress site editor for the full guide.
Editing menus on a classic theme
Step 1: Open the menu screen
Go to Appearance → Menus in your dashboard sidebar.
Select the menu you want to edit from the dropdown at the top of the screen (most sites have one or two menus — a primary navigation menu and sometimes a footer menu).
Click "Select." The menu's current structure loads in the right panel.
Step 2: Add a link to the menu
Find the "Add menu items" panel on the left. It has tabs for Pages, Posts, Custom Links, and Categories.
To add a page: Click the "Pages" tab, check the box next to the page you want, and click "Add to Menu." It appears at the bottom of the menu structure.
To add a custom link (for example, to an external site): Click "Custom Links," type the URL and the text you want to display, then click "Add to Menu."
Step 3: Reorder and nest menu items
All menu items appear as draggable boxes in the right panel.
- To reorder: Drag an item up or down to change its position in the menu.
- To create a dropdown: Drag an item slightly to the right, beneath another item. It becomes a sub-item (shown as a dropdown under the parent link).
- To remove a sub-level: Drag the item back to the left margin.
Step 4: Remove a menu item
Click the arrow on the right side of the menu item box to expand it.
Click "Remove." The item disappears from the menu.
Step 5: Save your changes
Click "Save Menu" in the bottom right corner of the page. Your changes go live immediately.
Visit your site to confirm the menu looks correct. Refresh the page (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R) if the change doesn't appear right away.
Editing menus in the Customizer (alternative)
Some classic themes let you edit menus via Appearance → Customize → Menus. This gives you a live preview of your changes as you make them.
Go to Appearance → Customize. The Customizer opens with a live preview of your site on the right.
Click "Menus." If you don't see this option, your theme manages menus elsewhere — use Appearance → Menus instead.
Click the menu name to open it and make your changes.
Click "Publish" to save. Changes go live when you click Publish.
Editing menus on a block theme
If your site uses a block theme, menus are edited as Navigation blocks inside the Site Editor. See using the WordPress site editor for a full walkthrough.
In brief:
Go to Appearance → Editor.
Click on your header area to select it.
Click the Navigation block — the block containing your menu links.
Use the block toolbar to add links, or click an existing link to edit or remove it.
Click Save to publish your changes.
Dropdown menus work differently in block themes
In block themes, creating dropdown menus is done by adding sub-menu items inside the Navigation block. The exact steps vary by theme — if you're struggling with dropdowns, reach out and we'll walk you through it.
Common questions
Related guides
- Editing your footer & widget areas
- Changing your logo, site title & favicon
- Using the WordPress site editor
- WordPress themes explained
- A tour of the WordPress dashboard
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