How to Disable Auto Excerpt on WordPress Website: 3 Best Ways

WordPress automatically generates excerpts for your posts by taking the first 55 words and creating a summary. While this feature is useful for many, some may want more control over what gets displayed. If you’re looking how to disable auto excerpt on WordPress and take full control over your post previews, follow this step-by-step guide.

How to Disable Auto Excerpt on WordPress | 3 Best Methods

Why Disable Auto Excerpts?

Auto excerpts can sometimes cut off important parts of your content, or you may prefer to write your own custom excerpt. Disabling the auto-generated excerpt allows you to:

• Showcase a specific message to your audience
• Ensure that important information isn’t truncated
• Improve your SEO by crafting better snippets

Methods to Disable Auto Excerpt in WordPress

1. Using Theme Customization

Some WordPress themes offer built-in settings for managing or disabling excerpts. To check:

1. Go to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Appearance > Customize.
3. Look for an option like Blog Settings or Post Excerpts.
4. If your theme allows, you can disable the auto excerpts from here.

2. Manual Code Edit (functions.php)

If your theme doesn’t offer built-in options, you can manually disable auto excerpts by adding a small code snippet to your theme’s functions.php file. Here’s how:

1. In the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Theme Editor.
2. Open the functions.php file of your active theme.
3. Add the following code at the end of the file:

function disable_auto_excerpt( $length ) {
    return 0;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'disable_auto_excerpt' );

4. Save the changes, and WordPress will no longer automatically generate excerpts for your posts.

3. Using a Plugin

For those who are not comfortable editing code, there are plugins available that allow you to disable or customize excerpts. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for a plugin like Disable Excerpts or Advanced Excerpt.
3. Install and activate the plugin.
4. Follow the plugin’s instructions to disable auto excerpts.

4. Customizing the Excerpt

Even if you disable auto excerpts, you can still add custom excerpts manually. To do this:

1. While editing a post, scroll down to the Excerpt box.
2. Enter your custom summary.
3. Save or publish the post.

Final Thoughts

Disabling auto excerpts in WordPress can give you more control over how your content is presented on your blog. Whether through theme settings, manual code, or plugins, you can easily stop WordPress from automatically generating excerpts and ensure your posts are displayed exactly as you want.

If you’re looking for professional WordPress support, I offer a range of services tailored to meet your website needs. From troubleshooting and customization to regular maintenance, I can help ensure your WordPress site runs smoothly. Whether you need assistance disabling features like auto excerpts or more advanced website support, feel free to reach out for expert help.