Editing your footer & widget areas
Learn how to edit your WordPress website footer, update widget areas, and add or remove content like links, text, and contact details.
Your website's footer appears at the bottom of every page. It typically contains contact information, quick links, copyright text, and sometimes social media icons. Keeping it accurate is important — many visitors scroll down looking for this information.
Quick summary
How you edit your footer depends on your theme type. Classic themes use widgets — small content blocks you add to footer areas via Appearance → Widgets. Block themes use the Site Editor (Appearance → Editor) where the footer is edited like any other block layout. Both approaches are covered here.
What are widgets?
A widget (a self-contained piece of content) is a small block you can place in specific areas of your site called widget areas. Most classic themes include several widget areas in the footer — for example, three or four columns side by side.
Common widgets include:
- Text — for free-form text like an address or a tagline
- Navigation Menu — for a column of links
- Recent Posts — for a list of your latest blog posts
- Search — for a search bar
- Image — for your logo or a promotional image
Editing the footer on a classic theme
Using Appearance → Widgets
Go to Appearance → Widgets in your dashboard. You'll see a list of available widgets on the left, and your theme's widget areas (including footer columns) on the right.
Find the footer widget areas. These are usually labeled "Footer 1," "Footer 2," "Footer 3," or similar. Click the arrow on any one to expand it and see what's currently inside.
To add a widget: Find the widget you want in the left panel and drag it into the footer area where you want it, or click the + button inside the footer area to browse and add widgets.
To edit a widget: Click the arrow on the widget to expand its settings. Change the text, links, or other options.
To remove a widget: Expand the widget and click "Delete" or drag it out of the footer area.
Click "Save" or "Update" for each widget after making changes. Visit your site to review how the footer looks.
Using the Customizer
Some themes also let you edit widgets via Appearance → Customize → Widgets — this gives you a live preview as you work.
Go to Appearance → Customize.
Click "Widgets." You'll see your widget areas listed.
Click the footer area you want to edit. Make your changes.
Click "Publish" to save changes. They go live immediately.
Editing the footer on a block theme
Block themes — newer themes that use the WordPress Site Editor — don't use widgets. Instead, the footer is a template you edit visually with blocks.
Go to Appearance → Editor in your dashboard. The Site Editor opens.
In the left sidebar, click "Templates" or look for a "Parts" or "Template Parts" section. Your footer is usually listed as a template part called "Footer."
Click "Footer" to open it for editing.
Click any element in the footer to select and edit it. Text, links, images, and other blocks all work the same way as in the main page editor.
To add new content: Click the + icon to insert a new block in the footer layout.
Click "Save" when you're done. The change updates the footer on every page of your site.
Not sure which type of theme you have?
Go to Appearance in your dashboard. If you see "Widgets" in the menu, you're on a classic theme. If you see "Editor," you're on a block theme. See WordPress themes explained for more background.
Common footer content to update
Here are the most common things clients update in their footer:
| What to update | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Phone number or address | Text widget / text block |
| Footer navigation links | Navigation Menu widget / Navigation block |
| Copyright year | Text widget / text block — update manually each year |
| Social media links | Custom HTML widget or social icons block |
| Business hours | Text widget / text block |
Copyright year
The copyright year in your footer won't update automatically. It's a good habit to update it at the start of each new year. Some sites use a plugin or code snippet to display the current year automatically — ask us if you'd like that set up.
Editing footer text in a page builder
If your site was built with Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, or another page builder, your footer may be a designed template that lives inside the page builder. In that case:
- Elementor users: The footer is usually in a Elementor "Theme Builder" footer template. Open Elementor, go to Templates, find the footer, and edit it there. See the Elementor section of our guides.
- Other builders: The footer editing location varies. Contact us if you can't find where to edit it.
Common questions
Related guides
- How to edit your navigation menu
- Changing your logo, site title & favicon
- WordPress themes explained
- Using the WordPress site editor
- A tour of the WordPress dashboard
Need a hand?
Learn more
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.
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