How to Remove Powered by WordPress Footer Link: Beginner’s Guide

Undeniably, WordPress has proven itself to be the best Content Management System (CMS) in all ways. No doubt, it is a boon when it comes to creating and maintain the websites. No need to mention the plethora of best themes and essential plugins it has at your disposal. But that doesn’t really mean we need to tell everyone that we have used WordPress to create a website.

Well, I’m talking about the “Powered by WordPress” footer displayed on your site. Though your website may look visually appealing and professional, the copyright information on the footer section may put your professionalism under shade to some extent. I do not say that you ought to remove Powered by WordPress footer link but removing it makes your site look more polished.

But it is totally your choice to keep it or remove. And, this article is for those users who want to remove the powered by WordPress footer link from your site. Apart from that, you can use the same steps to get you any of other promotional links removed from your footer.

Is it legal to Remove “powered by WordPress” credits?

Why not? WordPress is a free, open-source platform. And just to remind you of the WordPress license, WordPress is released under the GPL (General Public License). That means, you got all the freedom to create, modify, run your site as per your wish. I assume, you all no might be thinking does the license apply to WordPress themes as well. And, the answer is Yes. As per the official legal opinion provided by Software Freedom Law Center, “PHP in WordPress themes must be GPL”.

Thus, you need not worry about anything before removing Powered by WordPress. Go ahead and remove it as you please.

How to Remove Powered by WordPress Footer Link?

There are two options you can use to remove Powered by WordPress credit from your footer.

1. Disabling through the theme customizer
2. Removing via Footer.php file

I have not included the CSS method because that may pose a risk to your site’s SEO. And, we all are well aware of the fact that how important SEO is for your website’s success. Thus, I suggest you should avoid that method as far as possible. If you do, Google wouldn’t like it 😉

Anyways, the best news is, removing WordPress footer will not take more than a couple of minutes. Let’s check out what are those three options in detail and then you decide which one will be easier for you.

1. Disabling through the theme customizer

The availability of the settings for removing the footer links may vary from theme to theme. However,  the step that is same for all is to visit Appearance >> Customize. Then, you will be redirected to the theme customizer where you can modify or remove the footer. However, not all themes have this option. Luckily some themes do provide you with this option.

For instance, Flash theme by ThemeGrill gives you an option to customize the footer text. You can add the text you want or remove the all the text and then hit the publish button.

2. Removing via Footer.php file

Like I mentioned before, you can come across some of the themes that do not consist of the option to remove or alter the footer credits directly from the admin area. In that case, this method can be used.
To remove the Powered by WordPress footer link or simply any footer credit from footer.php, you have to first go to Appearance >> Editor.

After that, on the right had to side you will see a file named footer.php.

Simply, click on it and the file will be opened. Then, look out for the part where the site information is mentioned. The easier way to find it is by searching for “Powered by”. This will directly lead you to the section that is to be removed.

The code in the twenty-seventeen looks somewhat like this:

Just delete the code for removing Powered by WordPress footer link. You can also edit the footer as per your wish. At last, Don’t forget to save the changes.

However, the code we are looking for may also be found in some other places in many themes these days. For example, the code is in extras.php in Flash.

Summarizing It All!

Hopefully, this tutorial provided you the guidance needed to remove the footer credit, specifically, “Powered by WordPress” footer link form your site.

Was it helpful? Do share us your experience.  We will be more than glad to hear them 🙂

And if you like this article, you may also like t go through some of our other articles:

• How to Add a Facebook Fanbox to your WordPress Website using WordPress Facebook Widget?
• How To Clear WordPress Cache: Step-by-Step Tutorial
• A Beginner’s Guide To WordPress Featured Image Size: Adding, Customizing and Changing