How to Disable Gutenberg Editor & Keep Classic Editor in WP?

Wordpress

How to Disable Gutenberg Editor & Keep Classic Editor in WP?Are you looking for ways to disable the Gutenberg editor & keep classic TinyMCE editor on your WP site?  There are some reasons that you may want to keep your classic editor and want to disable the Gutenberg editor for now:

  • You like the classic editor & don’t want to learn new interface.
  • You may be worried that Gutenberg causes compatibility issues on your site.
  • You manage client’s interface and don’t want to force them to learn new interface.

No matter what are your reasons to stay with your classic editor, methods in this post will show you how to:

  • Switch between Gutenberg to Classic editor on post by post basis.
  • Completely disable Gutenberg and hide all its traces from your WordPress dashboard.
  • Disable Gutenberg for specific user roles, theme templates, post types.

How to Disable Gutenberg Editor & Keep Classic Editor in WP

Method 1:- Use Official Classic Editor Plugin

Official classic editor plugin is the popular way to disable the Gutenberg editor.

It allows you to do two things:

  • 100% disable Gutenberg & hide all traces from interface.
  • Switch between Gutenberg editor & classic editor on post by post basis.

Step-1:- Install & Activate the Plugin:-

Initially to get started, install the free classic editor plugin for WordPress by going to Plugin-> Add New and searching it by name.

Step-2:- Configure Classic Editor Plugin

To choose whether to disable Gutenberg or use it post by post basis go to settings-> writing in WordPress dashboard and choose classic editor settings.

  1. Replace block editor with classic editor:- hides all traces of Gutenberg editor & has your site use the classic editor.
  2. Use the block editor by default & include links back to classic editor:- lets you select between Gutenberg & classic editor post by post basis.

If you want to disable Gutenberg editor 100% then you have done! Otherwise keep going…

Using the classic editor on post by post basis:

Now here are two options to switch between Gutenberg and classic editor when you create a new page or post:

  • Add New– regular add new tab creates a post/page using Gutenberg editor
  • Add new (classic):- creates page/post using classic editor.

When you hover over existing content, you get another two options:

  • Edit:- edit using Gutenberg editor
  • Classic editor:- edit using classic editor

Method 2:- Use the disable Gutenberg Plugin

Disable Gutenberg plugin is more flexible when it comes to disabling Gutenberg editor. You can use this plugin to disable Gutenberg editor for specific:

  • Pages
  • Posts
  • Post types
  • User roles
  • Theme template

Also you can use it for 100% disable Gutenberg editor. Here is how to use this plugin:

  • Install & activate the plugin:- install free disable Gutenberg plugin from WordPress by visiting Plugins-> Add New & search it by name.
  • Configure Where to disable Gutenberg:- once you have installed and activate the plugin visit the settings to configure it. By default it disable Gutenberg everywhere. To change that uncheck complete disable box.