Comprehensive Guide: 8 Ways How to Remove Sidebars in WordPress

What is a sidebar in WordPress?

A WordPress sidebar is a widget area, usually located on the left or right side of a website page, used to display additional information or a navigation menu. It allows for additional content to be added next to the main content and is an important part of a website's layout.

The Role of Sidebars

Sidebars can be used to display navigation menus, contact forms, CTA (call to action) buttons, and other content that enhances the user experience and website functionality. Many WordPress themes (such as Nexter by POSIMYTH Innovations) allow you to add different widget styles to your entire website and its different pages and blog posts.

Here's a brief look at its pros and cons.

How to Remove WordPress Sidebar (8 Ways)

Sidebars can be removed from WordPress pages in a number of easy ways. Here are 8 easy ways.

Method 1: Remove Sidebar using WordPress Theme Settings

The method of removing the sidebar from WordPress usually depends on the theme used. Many WordPress themes have built-in settings to easily remove sidebars. Additionally, depending on your theme, sidebars can also be removed from individual pages or posts.

1. Check Theme Settings: First, go to "exterior condition">"customizable".

2. Adjusting Sidebar Settings: click "conventional (weapons)">"a side-bar (in software)"Options.
3. Choose no sidebar: Select "No Sidebar" as the default layout in the Sidebar settings.

4. Save Changes: click "post"Applying Changes on a Live Site.

In this way, it is possible to remove WordPress sidebar through theme settings. If there is no relevant option in the theme settings, you can try other methods to remove the sidebar.

Method 2: Remove the sidebar using a plugin

Using WordPress plugins can add many unique features to your website, even including removing the sidebar. A good example of this is theWidget Disableplugin, which allows you to easily remove the sidebar.

Steps:

1. Get Plugins: In the WordPress dashboard, click "plug-in (software component)">"Add New Plugin".

2. Search Plugin: search for "Widget Disable" plugin, install it and activate it.

3. Configuring Plug-ins::

After activation, go to "exterior condition">"Disable widgets".

In the new screen, click on "unanimous" to select all options, then click "Save Changes". This will remove the sidebar from your WordPress site.

Method 3: Remove sidebar using full site editor (only for block-based themes)

If you use a block-based theme (such asDivi(or Neve FSE), the sidebar can be removed via the full site editor and the block editor.

Steps:

1. Launching the block editor: Go to "exterior condition">"editor (software)", launching the block editor for the topic.

2. Select a template or page: Select Templates, Pages, or Patterns from the left menu, and then click on the specific template or page from which you want to remove the sidebar.

3. Edit Template: In Design Preview, click the small pencil icon on the left to edit the template.

4. Remove Sidebar::
   • Select the sidebar you want to delete.
   • Click the three dots in the toolbar.
   • Select Delete Columns.

Method 4: Remove WordPress Sidebar via FTP

If one has knowledge of coding and is willing to use technical methods, the sidebar can be removed from the website via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). This method allows you to access and modify the site's files for better control of the site's functionality.

Steps:

1. Connecting to FTP: Connect to your site using an FTP client.
2. Navigating to website documents::
   • Go to the database and clickpublic_htmlFolder.
   • existpublic_htmlfolder, navigate to thewp-contentFolder.
   • click (using a mouse or other pointing device)themesand select the theme folder currently in use.

3. Modifying template files::
   • In the theme folder, locate and open the template file, for examplearchive.php,home.php,page.phprespond in singingindex.phpThe
   • Remove the following lines of code from each template file:<?php get_sidebar(); ?>The
   • If the site has multiple sidebars, look for similar code and remove it.
4. Save Changes: After modifying all template files, save the changes.

When finished, the sidebar will be removed from your site.

Method 5: Remove WordPress Sidebar from Static Pages

Many WordPress themes offer default full-width templates for static pages that do not include sidebars. If you only want to remove the sidebar from a single static page and not the entire site, you can use the full-width template.

Steps:

1. Select Static Page: In the WordPress dashboard, go to "web page", select the static page from which you want to remove the sidebar.

2. Select full-width template::
   • On the right side of the page, the "Page Properties"section, navigate to "templates"drop-down menu and select "full width".
   • Alternatively, the template section can be viewed on the right tab.

2. Updated page: Click the "Update" or "Publish" button and the sidebar will be removed from the page.

If your WordPress theme doesn't have a full-width template by default, you can create one yourself.

Create custom full-width templates:

1. Creating a new file::
   • Create a new file in a plain text editor namedfull-width.phpand save it on your desktop.
2. Connecting to FTP::
   • Use an FTP client to connect to your site.
   • Navigate to/wp-content/themes/your-themeFolder.
3. Copy Code::
   • Find an existing template file and open it in a plain text editor.
   • Copy the code from this file and paste it into thefull-width.phpDocumentation.
   • Delete the following lines of code:<?php get_sidebar(); ?>The
4. Upload new template::
   • Save the changes and send thefull-width.phpThe files are uploaded to your child theme folder.
   • You will have a full-width page template option with no sidebar.

Method 6: Remove WordPress Sidebar from Blog Post Page

Many popular WordPress themes include a sidebar by default in the blog page template. Here are simple steps to remove the sidebar:

Steps:

1. Setting up static pages::
   • In the WordPress dashboard, go to "set up">"read".
   • Under "Your Home Page Display", select "Static Page".
   • Select the blog page where you want to remove the sidebar from the drop-down menu and click "Save Changes".

2. Select full-width template::
   • Go to Pages > All Pages.
   • Find your blog page.
   • In the Page Properties box, select the Full Width template.
   • If the theme doesn't have a full-width template, follow the previously mentioned steps to create one manually.

With these steps, you can remove the sidebar from your blog page.

Method 7: Remove WordPress Sidebar from a Single Post

It's also easy to remove the sidebar for individual posts from WordPress built-in settings without having to remove the sidebar for the entire blog page.

Steps:

1. Select Blog Post::
   • In the WordPress dashboard, go to "card".
   • Select the blog post from which you want to remove the sidebar.

2. Select full-width template::
   • In the post properties meta box on the right, select "full width"Template.
   • Alternatively, find the Templates section in the meta box on the right and select Full Width Templates.

Method 8: Remove Sidebars Completely from Your WordPress Site

This method completely removes the sidebar from all pages and posts on your WordPress site. It involves editing your WordPress theme.

Caveats:

• Backup Sites: Backup your entire WordPress site before you start.
• Using child themes: Ensure that changes are made using a child theme to avoid making permanent changes to the parent theme, so that customizations are preserved when updates are made.

Steps:

1. Link to website::
   • Connect to your site using an FTP client such as FileZilla, or use the file manager of your hosting provider.
   • It can also be accessed from the WordPress dashboard's "exterior condition">"editor (software)"Accessing Documents.
2. Access to theme files::
   • After connecting to your site via an FTP client, go to the/wp-content/themes/your-themeFolder.
   • Find the template file that contains the sidebar, such asarchive.php,index.php,single.phprespond in singingpage.phpetc.
3. Editing template files::
   • Open these template files one by one in a plain text editor.
   • Remove the following lines of code from each file:<?php get_sidebar(); ?>The
   • If your theme has multiple sidebars, look for similar lines of code, for example:<?php get_sidebar('footer-widget-area'); ?>and delete it.

Summary:

By removing WordPress sidebars, you can simplify your website layout and improve user experience. This article describes 8 easy ways to do this, including using theme settings, plugins, full site editing, and FTP.Whether you want to remove sidebars from individual pages, blog posts, or your entire site, these methods will meet your needs.