How to change your WordPress header and footer

Your header and footer usually appear on several pages. First identify which theme system controls them. A change to a shared header can affect your homepage, posts and archives together.

Find the right editor

Open Appearance → Themes and note the active theme. If Appearance → Editor opens the Site Editor, follow the block-theme steps. For a classic theme, look for Appearance → Customize, Menus or Widgets. A page builder can add its own header and footer controls; use that builder's documentation if it owns those areas.

Before changing the layout, take a backup. Keep a screenshot of the current desktop and mobile navigation. Write down the links that must remain available.

Edit a block theme's header

1. Open Appearance → Editor → Patterns. Find the header under the template parts.
2. Open the header you actually use. A theme can have more than one. If uncertain, open the relevant template and use List View to identify its Header part.
3. Use List View to select the Site Logo, Site Title or Navigation block. Selecting the outer Group changes its layout; selecting an inner block changes that item.
4. Replace the logo or edit the title. To change links, select Navigation and follow the navigation guide.
5. Adjust spacing using the selected block's settings. Change one setting at a time so the effect is easy to judge.
6. Select Save and review the list of changed items. Save only the intended template part and any navigation changes.

The result should be the new header on every template that uses that part. Open a post and an archive as well as your homepage. If one view differs, it may use another header part.

Edit the footer

Return to Patterns, open the Footer template part and edit its blocks. Keep contact information as text or links, remove sample links, and verify the destination of each remaining link. Save the part and check it on more than one page type.

For a footer used only on selected pages, duplicate the part and use the duplicate in those templates. Editing the existing shared part will also change its other uses. A resource footer provides an editable starting point.

If you use a classic theme

Open the Customizer and inspect the controls your theme supplies. Logo and site-title settings often live under Site Identity. Navigation can be assigned through Menus, and footer content can live in widget areas. These locations are theme-dependent; there is no single footer control shared by every classic theme.

If the theme supplies no control for the change, consult its documentation before editing files. File changes need an appropriate child theme, a staging site and a recovery path. Do not paste unfamiliar PHP into the live theme editor.

When the change does not appear

Confirm which template part the page uses, then check the saved public page in a private browser window. Clear the relevant page cache if it still shows the old layout. A page-specific builder header can override the theme header.

Finally, test keyboard navigation and the mobile menu. A header that looks correct but hides essential links has not finished the job.