How to Remove a Category from Your WordPress Website

WordPress is an incredibly popular content management system (CMS) which provides a plethora of customization options to its users. One of the most critical aspects of managing a website on WordPress is the ability to categorize content, including blog posts, products, and much more. However, at times you may want to remove a category from your website. Here is a concise guide to delete a category from your WordPress website step-by-step.

Understanding Categories in WordPress

Before diving into the process of removing a category in WordPress, it’s essential to comprehend the purpose of categories. Categories are used to organize website content logically by grouping related topics or themes together. Assigning a category to your post enables your users to find related content quickly, and it becomes easier for your website visitors to browse content by category. Therefore, deleting a category implies that the related content will no longer be grouped together, and visitors will no longer be able to browse content within that category.

Step-by-Step Guide to Remove a Category from Your WordPress Website

Step 1: Access the WordPress Dashboard

The first and foremost step is to access your WordPress dashboard. This is where you can make all necessary changes to your site. To log in to your WordPress site, use your administrator credentials. Once you have entered your credentials, you will be redirected to your website’s dashboard.

Step 2: Navigate to the Posts Page

To remove a category from your WordPress website, you need to access the Posts page. To do this, hover over the ‘Posts’ link on the left-hand side of your dashboard and select ‘All Posts’ from the drop-down menu that appears.

Step 3: Locate the Category You Want to Remove

Once you are on the Posts page, you will see a list of all the posts on your site. Find the category that you want to delete from the list of categories on the right-hand side of the page. Click on that particular category to view all the posts that have been assigned to it.

Step 4: Reassign Posts to a New Category

Before deleting a category, you must reassign the posts that are currently assigned to that category. To do this, select all the posts that are assigned to the category you want to remove, and click on the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu. From the options, select ‘Edit,’ then click on the ‘Apply’ button.

You will now be redirected to another page, where you can reassign the posts to a new category. Select the category you want to assign the posts to from the ‘Categories’ drop-down menu, then click on the ‘Update’ button.

Step 5: Delete the Category

After you have reassigned all the posts to a new category, you can proceed to delete the category that you wanted to remove from your WordPress website. To delete it, hover over the category, and click on the ‘Delete’ button. WordPress will ask you whether you are sure you want to remove the category. Click on the ‘OK’ button to confirm the deletion.

Step 6: Update Any Menus

If the removed category was listed on your website’s menu, you need to remove it from the menu too. To do this, navigate to the Appearance > Menus page from your WordPress dashboard. Select the menu that contains the category you removed, then click on the category to expand it. Click on ‘Remove’ to delete the category from the menu, and click on ‘Save Menu’ to update the menu.

Step 7: Check Your Website

Once you have removed the category and updated any menus, check your website to make sure everything is functioning correctly. Browse your site to confirm that all the posts that were initially assigned to the category have been reassigned to a new category, and the menu no longer contains the deleted category.

Conclusion

Deleting a category from your WordPress website is an easy process, but it is crucial to follow the necessary steps to ensure your website remains organized and functional. Always remember to back up your website before making any changes, and update your menus and links as necessary to allow your website visitors to find all the content they need.