Scroll to the bottom of a fresh WordPress install and you will find a small line of text waiting there: Proudly powered by WordPress. In newer default themes like Twenty Twenty-Five, the wording changed to Designed with WordPress, but the idea is the same. WordPress thanks itself in your footer.
For a personal blog that line is harmless. For a business site, a client project, or a portfolio where every pixel carries your brand, it can feel out of place. Visitors do not need a software credit, and some clients actively ask for it to be gone before a site goes live.
Removing it is completely fine. WordPress is released under the GPL license, which gives you the freedom to modify the software, including the footer of your own site. One nuance is worth knowing: while the core WordPress credit is yours to remove, a few premium themes add their own credit line and politely ask you to keep it. Check your theme’s terms if you bought a premium theme. For the core Powered by WordPress or Designed with WordPress text, nobody can require you to keep it.
Which method you use depends on your theme. Block themes are edited in the Site Editor, classic themes usually hide a copyright setting in the Customizer, and when neither gives you what you need, a child theme edit or a CSS rule will finish the job. This guide covers all four approaches, ordered from cleanest to quickest.
Is it really okay to remove the footer credit?
Yes, and it is worth understanding why, so you can explain it to clients with confidence. The GPL grants four freedoms: to run the program, to study it, to modify it, and to share modified copies. Editing your footer is a modification, so it is covered. Removing the credit does not void any warranty, because WordPress ships without one, and it does not affect updates, security, or how the rest of your site works.
The only gray area involves premium themes. Some paid themes include their own credit, for example a line that mentions the theme name next to the WordPress credit. A few of those licenses request that you keep the credit as a condition of support or updates. That is a contract question, not a GPL question, so read the license terms of the theme you paid for. If you use a free theme from WordPress.org, you can remove every credit line without a second thought.
Which method should I use for my theme?
Open your dashboard and look at the Appearance menu. If you see an Editor item, you are running a block theme such as Twenty Twenty-Five, and the Site Editor method is your cleanest option. If you see Customize instead, you are on a classic theme, and the Customizer probably has a footer or copyright setting. If your theme offers neither, or the setting does not remove the exact line you want gone, the child theme method works on practically every theme ever made.
- Block theme, such as Twenty Twenty-Five: use the Site Editor (Method 1).
- Classic theme with a footer setting, in the style of Astra, Kadence, or GeneratePress: use the Customizer (Method 2).
- Any theme, and you want the change to survive updates: use the child theme (Method 3).
- Quick cosmetic fix when nothing else is available: hide it with CSS (Method 4).
Method 1: Remove the credit in the Site Editor (block themes)
Block themes build the footer from a template part, which is a reusable group of blocks. Deleting or editing the credit block inside that template part removes it from every page that uses the footer. Here is the process:
- Step 1: In your dashboard, go to Appearance, then Editor. This opens the Site Editor.
- Step 2: Click the footer area of the preview, or open the side navigation and choose Template Parts, then Footer.
- Step 3: Click the paragraph block that holds the credit text, such as Designed with WordPress.
- Step 4: Press Delete to remove the block, or type your own text to replace it with your brand name.
- Step 5: Click Save in the top right corner.
Replacing the text instead of deleting the block is often the nicer choice. A footer that ends with your own site name and copyright line looks finished, while a footer with a visible gap where the credit used to sit can look like something broke. Type your replacement, for example your brand name followed by the current year, and save.
Method 2: Use the footer setting in the Customizer (classic themes)
Most popular classic themes know that owners want control of the footer, so they include a dedicated setting. Themes in the style of Astra, Kadence, and GeneratePress each have their own footer builder or copyright area. The exact labels differ, but the pattern is always the same:
- Step 1: Go to Appearance, then Customize.
- Step 2: Look for a Footer panel, a Footer Builder, or a Layout section.
- Step 3: Find the copyright or credit field. It often contains a ready made string with placeholders for the year and the site name.
- Step 4: Edit the text to say what you want, or clear the field if your theme allows an empty footer line.
- Step 5: Click Publish.
Many themes support small placeholders in that field, such as a current year tag, so your copyright year updates itself every January without you touching it. If your theme documents its own placeholders, use them. If your theme has no footer setting at all, do not fight it. Move on to Method 3, which works everywhere. And if the Customizer makes you realize the theme itself is fighting you at every step, read our guide to changing your WordPress theme without losing content before switching.
Method 3: Edit footer.php in a child theme (the safe permanent fix)
Editing the parent theme’s footer.php directly works for exactly one update cycle. The next theme update replaces the file and your change disappears. A child theme inherits everything from the parent but keeps your edits in separate files that updates never touch. If you have never made one, our guide to creating a WordPress child theme walks through the whole setup.
Once the child theme is active, copy footer.php from the parent theme folder into the child theme folder. Open the copy and search for the credit line. In default themes it looks something like this:
<?php
/* translators: %s: CMS name, i.e. WordPress. */
printf(
esc_html__( 'Proudly powered by %s', 'twentytwentyfive' ),
'WordPress'
);
?>Delete those lines, or replace the text with your own credit. A common replacement keeps the translation function but changes the wording, so multilingual setups keep working. Save the file, clear any caching plugin, and reload the front end. Because the file lives in the child theme, every future update of the parent theme leaves it alone. The official child theme documentation explains the underlying mechanics if you want the full picture.
One caution: some themes build the footer credit inside a template part or a function in functions.php rather than directly in footer.php. If you cannot find the text in footer.php, search the theme folder for the phrase Powered by or Designed with. Your code editor’s find in files feature will point you at the right file in seconds.
Method 4: Hide the credit with CSS (quick fix, not the cleanest)
When you need the credit gone in two minutes and do not want to touch theme files, CSS can hide it. The tradeoff is honesty about what hiding means: display none removes the text from the visual page, but the words remain in the HTML source. Visitors never see it, yet it is still technically there. Treat this as a last resort, not as a real removal.
First find the right selector. Right click the footer credit in your browser, choose Inspect, and look at the class on the surrounding element. Common ones are site-info, footer-credits, or powered-by, but every theme names things differently, so trust the inspector over any list.
Then add the rule in the Customizer under Additional CSS. Our guide to adding custom CSS in WordPress covers the exact clicks if you have never done it.
.site-info .powered-by {
display: none;
}Replace the selector with the one you found in the inspector, then click Publish and check the front end. If the credit is still visible, your selector is wrong or another rule with higher specificity is winning. Adding the parent selector, as in the example above, usually outranks the theme’s own rule.
Replace the credit instead of leaving a gap
An empty footer bottom bar draws the eye for the wrong reason. Whatever method you use, consider writing your own line in place of the credit. A simple copyright line with your brand name and the year looks professional and fills the space the credit used to occupy. In the Site Editor and the Customizer you type it directly. In a child theme you place it where the old credit was. Small touch, finished result.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to remove Powered by WordPress from my footer?
Yes. WordPress is licensed under the GPL, which explicitly allows you to modify the software, and your footer is part of your site’s presentation. You are not required to credit WordPress anywhere. The only thing to check is a premium theme license that asks you to keep the theme’s own credit as a condition of the purchase.
Will removing the footer credit hurt my SEO?
No. The credit is plain text with no SEO value passing in either direction. Search engines do not reward you for keeping it and do not punish you for removing it. Just avoid deleting the entire footer widget area by accident, because losing your real footer links would be a genuine problem.
Why does my theme say Designed with WordPress instead of Powered by WordPress?
WordPress changed the default wording in recent default themes, starting with the Twenty Twenty-Five era. It is the same credit with friendlier phrasing. Every method in this guide works on both wordings, because you are deleting or editing the block or line that holds the text, not matching the exact words.
Can I remove the footer credit without touching any code?
Yes. With a block theme, the Site Editor method needs no code at all. With a classic theme that has a footer setting in the Customizer, that route is also codeless. The child theme method needs a small file edit, and the CSS method needs one rule. Pick the first method in this guide that matches your theme and you will likely never open a code editor.
Last updated: October 2026.
