Your WordPress menu can be an essential part of your website. Without it, your visitors might have a more difficult time navigating to the page or post they want to view. If you find that your WordPress menu disappeared, you might want to know why so that you can figure out how to get it back.
Why did your WordPress menu disappear? A WordPress menu could disappear for a few reasons, most of them relating to changes made to the site. After the installation of a new plugin or theme, the site menu might go away. Luckily, it’s easy enough to bring the menu back.
If you ever make significant changes to your WordPress website, you should make sure that they will be compatible with your site. While a new plugin or theme could be useful, it might cause problems for something like your menu. Knowing why your WordPress menu disappeared can help you determine how to fix the problem.
Why Did Your WordPress Menu Disappear?
Many reasons can cause WordPress menus to disappear. For one, it depends on the menu. Your admin menu could go away, or your customers might not be able to see the menu to navigate the public area of your site.
Once you know what menu is gone, you can figure out the cause. Determining why your WordPress menu disappeared can help you fix the problem. Some common reasons include a new theme, a WordPress update, and some missing code.
A Design Change
If you’ve had your website for a while, odds are you’ve probably wanted to redesign it at least once. While you may not jump at every chance to switch things up, it can be nice to change the fonts or colors. You can also make even bigger changes to your website with a new theme, but you should be careful.
There are many themes available from WordPress or third-party developers, so you can make your site look unique. However, not all themes set up the elements of your site in the same way. If you switch from one theme to a completely different one, that could cause your WordPress menu to disappear.
Now, this doesn’t mean you should never change your theme, because there are times when a new theme is good. On the other hand, you do have to be careful when you make any drastic changes to the design or setup of your site.
More Plugins, More Problems
While not as massive as a new theme, a new plugin might cause your WordPress menu to disappear. If you and your visitors can’t see your menu, that can be frustrating. So consider if you recently downloaded a new plugin.
- Of course, many popular WordPress plugins are compatible with almost every WordPress site.
- However, there might be some plugins that don’t work well either with your chosen theme or your version of WordPress.
- The more plugins you add, the more likely you are to come across at least one that is incompatible with other areas of your website, including your WordPress menu.
You don’t have to get rid of every plugin you have to get your menu back, and you might not need to delete the problematic one. However, you may need to reset your menu to get it to come back. As you download plugins in the future, make sure they are compatible with your site and that you do have a use for them.
Updates Gone Wrong
While many people want to believe that technology is perfect, that’s not true. Sometimes, technology and the internet can have problems, and your WordPress site is no exception. If you notice your WordPress menu disappears after an update, that update might be the issue.
In most cases, WordPress updates are meant to help your site run more efficiently. They’re supposed to protect your site from hackers and improve other areas of site security. Unfortunately, things can go wrong with your site, even if the update doesn’t have any apparent problems.
Whether you recently updated your entire site, a plugin, or a theme, consider that. If something bad happens during an update, that could cause your menu to disappear. The good news is that you can fix the issue.
If the problematic update came from a plugin or theme, you might be able to switch to an alternative. However, if the update was to your entire site, you may need to redo your menu so that it appears as it should. You may also need to contact your website hosting company for help to resolve everything.
Missing Code
While it might be more common for the menu on your WordPress site to disappear, your admin menu can also have issues. Missing code could be the culprit for both a missing admin menu and a lack of a menu on your front page. For whatever reason, if the code doesn’t show up or render properly, you won’t have your WordPress menu.
If the menu on the public area of your site is gone, it could be that your site isn’t showing the code for that. You might also have accidentally changed the settings for your menus. While this isn’t common, accidentally deleting your menu or changing its location could cause it to disappear.
When it comes to a missing admin bar menu, it means your theme might be missing some code in the footer. In this case, you would need to access the files of your website and add a small bit of code in. However, make sure you backup your site first, and don’t be afraid to ask your hosting company for assistance.
Whether your public menu or admin bar is gone, you may feel stressed to get it back. If you determine the issue is caused by some missing code or your menu settings, you can make the necessary changes. To learn more about why an admin bar might go away, click here.
How to Fix Your Menu Issue
Once you determine which menu is gone and what might have caused the issue, it’s time to fix it. In most cases, you can fix the problem by adjusting your menu settings. If you recently changed to a new theme, you may need to change the layout a bit so that your menu can appear how you like it.
- Go to your WordPress dashboard and head to Appearance, then Menus.
- Make sure that your menu is there and that you didn’t accidentally delete it.
- Click on the tab Manage Locations. Now, the exact screen will depend on your theme, but you should see something like Header Menu or Primary Menu.
- Next, assign the menu that you want to appear as the header or primary menu.
- Hit Save and refresh your website. The menu should appear in the correct place.
When you change to a new theme, you may need to experiment with the exact location of your menu. However, these steps can correct most of the more common problems. If you find that you deleted your menu, you can recreate it within the Menus screen, but you’ll need to make a new menu from scratch.
When it comes to fixing an admin bar problem, that gets more tricky. Unless you’re a web developer, you should contact your web host for help accessing your web files to correct the problem.
Final Thoughts
When you log into your website only to find that your WordPress menu disappeared, try not to freak out. Instead, remain calm and think about any recent changes you made so that you can determine what caused the issue. Finally, you can take the necessary steps to get your menu back.