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How to Disable Gutenberg in WordPress Without Plugin

Gutenberg has been the default editor of WordPress since version 5.0, which was released back in 2018. It replaced the previous editor which commonly known as Classic Editor. Gutenberg brought new content creation experience in WordPress. It looks more modern with its block-based concept (Gutenberg is also known as Block Editor). However, not all users are ready with it or simply don’t like it. If you don’t like Gutenberg, you can disable it and switch back to Classic Editor. This article will show you how.

Reasons to Disable Gutenberg

For some users, Gutenberg is a great thing as it offers a brand-new experience in creating a content in WordPress. The block concept allows you to manage your content easily. For instance, you can move a certain section up or down by simply drag it. Also, Gutenberg offers some blocks to create custom layout for your content. The Column block, for instance. Adding content from third-party sources (e.g., YouTube) is also much easier than Classic Editor.

Before evolving into a comprehensive website building tool like today (WordPress is powering over 40% percent website on the internet, FYI), WordPress was a natural blogging tool. Thus, the focus is on text-based content. Classic Editor is more than enough to create text-based content. Gutenberg is also great to create text-based content, but it’s too complex for some users. There are too many unnecessary elements (blocks). Plus, the WordPress developer team tends to push Gutenberg to compete with page builder plugins in the recent WordPress releases.

How to Disable Gutenberg without Plugin and Switch Back to Classic Editor

Classic Editor is still there. It’s not really removed from WordPress. If you disable Gutenberg, you will have Classic Editor back. There are two options to disable Gutenberg. First, you can install a plugin called Classic Editor. Second, you can add a new function on your WordPress theme. Just like the title suggests, we will show you how to disable Gutenberg using the second method.

Login to WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance -> Theme Editor. Select the active theme on your WordPress on the Select theme to edit dropdown. Click the functions.php file to edit it and add the following snippet.

The snippet:

add_filter('use_block_editor_for_post', '__return_false', 10);

You can simply paste the snippet above right after the last line of the functions.php file. Make sure to click Update File button to update the file.

Now, please write a new blog post and you should have your Classic Editor back.

PS:

If you haven’t added a new function before in WordPress before and it looks scary for you, make sure to back up your website first.

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