Several Methods to Modify or Delete the Uncategorized Category in WordPress

Whether you are a WordPress site administrator or a beginner, after usingWordPress InstallationWhen you set up a website, an Uncategorized category is generated by default. This category is not aesthetically pleasing and is detrimental to website SEO and user experience. How can you delete this Uncategorized category? There are several methods.Method 1: RenameSimply rename the category directly.Method 2: Create a new category, then move all posts from the Uncategorized category to the new one. The Uncategorized category will not display on the frontend when empty. Of course, if you only want to hide posts from the Uncategorized category from appearing on the frontend homepage, you can refer to this article:How to exclude posts from specific categories from the WordPress homepage Method 3: Set a default category and then delete the Uncategorized directory First, go to the settings in the website admin dashboard and change the default category directory to another one. Then, you can delete the Uncategorized directory. (For WooCommerce, to delete the Uncategorized category, similarly, first modify the default product category, then delete Uncategorized.)Method 4: Code FilteringBy adding code to the Theme, you can hide Uncategorized on the Frontend, but it will not affect the functionality.

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What is the Uncategorized Category?

In WordPress, when it comes to organizing content, Tags and Categories are two excellent and commonly used features. Categories, referred to as Category directories, are used to group and select related content together. Although Tags are completely optional, the default WordPress Category is mandatory and cannot be deleted. In other words, when you write a Post, you can fill in Tags or not, and it won„t have any impact. But you must choose a Category directory; if you don“t, it will default to Uncategorized. The Uncategorized Category directory is neither aesthetically pleasing nor beneficial.SEO Optimization，

Why Delete the Uncategorized Category?

There are two main reasons to consider deleting the Uncategorized Category directory from WordPress: improving your website„s quality and enhancing the reader“s user experience.

#1 Improve Your Website Quality

Frequently appearing the term Uncategorized can make your website appear unprofessional, careless, or negligent. If most of your Posts are listed as Uncategorized, it clearly indicates that you pay little attention to editing your Posts. Most importantly, content that is not properly categorized will lack logical consistency. The frequency of this term can scatter your website„s content and lower its quality.

#2 Enhance Reader User Experience

The Uncategorized Category directory presents significant difficulties for readers navigating your content. Imagine walking into a library because you need some books. You go through the shelves in the Business section and look for marketing books. You only see the name Uncategorized on each shelf, which should be named Sales, Marketing, or Finance. You feel frustrated while searching for your target book, and you don„t want to visit that library again. This experience is the same when your visitors browse your website and cannot identify similar or related content. High-quality websites should have a logically clear order in their content. Don“t let the default Uncategorized category harm your website„s quality and prevent readers from effectively browsing your site. Changing the default Category directory to a category relevant to your website“s content plays a crucial role in improving website professionalism and enhancing user experience. Although we cannot delete the default category because WordPress always requires your website to have a Category directory, we can also use other methods to rename the Uncategorized Category directory or set a new default category.

How to delete the Uncategorized category from WordPress

Let's take a look at which methods can solve this Uncategorized Category directory issue.

#1 Rename the default category

Using this method, you can change Uncategorized to a name more relevant to your website„s content. To rename the default Category directory, you just need to follow 6 simple steps:

1. Go to Posts → in the WordPress DashboardCategories
2. FindUncategorizedword
3. ClickEdit
4. Enter the new name for the category
5. 在In Edit CategoryChangeSlug
6. ClickUpdate

Now, your default category will display as the new name you„ve changed, instead of “Uncategorized„.

#2 Create a new default category

Unlike the method above, this method will utilize existing categories. If your website has multiple post categories, you can select a new default category from the category list in „Default Post Category“ without needing to create a new default category.

1. Go to Posts → in the WordPress DashboardCategories
2. Navigate toAdd New Category
3. 在In the Name fieldEnter the desired default category'sName
4. Enter Slug
5. ClickAdd New Category
6. Go toSettings→ Write
7. FindDefault Post Category
8. Select the desired default category from the list
9. ClickSave Changes

From now on, whenever you forget to set a category for a post, WordPress will automatically assign it under the new default category you created for posts.

#3 Delete the Uncategorized category after setting a new default

After you have performed the second method above to set a new default category, you will find that you can delete the default 'Uncategorized' category when you re-enter the post categories section.

#4 Code filtering

If you want to filter out the 'Uncategorized' category from displaying on the frontend but still keep it selectable, you can add the following code to your theme:

/**
* 隐藏未分类
* @link https://blog.naibabiji.com/skill/remove-uncategorized-wordpress.html
*/
add_filter('get_terms', 'naibabiji_hide_product_uncategorized', 10, 4);
function naibabiji_hide_product_uncategorized($terms, $taxonomies, $args , $term_query)
{
// 要隐藏的分类类型
$hide_taxonomies = ['product_cat','category'];
// 要隐藏的分类slug
$hide_term_slugs = ['uncategorized'];
if (array_intersect($hide_taxonomies, $taxonomies) && !is_admin()) {
foreach ($terms as $k => $term) {
if (in_array($term->slug, $hide_term_slugs)) {
unset($terms[$k]);
}
}
}
return $terms;
}

Is it better to rename the „Uncategorized“ category or set a new default name?

You might ask which option is more suitable for your website. Typically, renaming the default category is more suitable for new websites. In detail, changing the name „Uncategorized“ will lead to adjustments in slugs and URLs. Since you already have many posts, this might negatively impact SEO. One thing to mention is that when you change the slug in a category, it must be different from the slug in tags within the same post. On the other hand, if your website has already grown significantly, choosing the second option (creating a new default category) makes more sense for you. Changing the default category usually does not require changing anything, and you can utilize existing post categories.

How to delete the Uncategorized product category in WooCommerce.

If you run a business using WooCommerce, you might encounter the same issue. WooCommerce also has a default product category called „Uncategorized“. Once you add new products and forget to categorize them, these products will belong to the „Uncategorized“ category. WooCommerce product categories are very powerful, and you can easily control how products are presented and organized. Making full use of this feature is crucial. While other product classifications can help customers conveniently browse your products, the „Uncategorized“ category is useless. You should take further steps to eliminate this annoying term, thereby more effectively facilitating your customers. In fact, the solution in WooCommerce is theoretically the same as in WordPress. However, it has a different interface from WooCommerce and WordPress. We will show you an effective method to remove the „Uncategorized“ category in WooCommerce in the following 5 steps:

1. Go toProducts →  Categories
2. Select the category you want to set as the default
3. ClickSet as Default
4. FindUncategorized
5. ClickDelete

In addition to this method, the code filtering function mentioned above can also be applied to WooCommerce.

Now it„s time to delete the “Uncategorized„ category!

In WordPress, categories are considered key elements for clarifying your website„s content. Do not let annoying small categories interfere with your website“s development or readers„ browsing. Through the above methods for removing the “Uncategorized„ category, you will never see any posts assigned to “Uncategorized„. This article shows 4 effective methods to easily remove the “Uncategorized„ category in WordPress and WooCommerce. If you have any questions about categories on WordPress and WooCommerce, feel free to ask in the comment box below!