How to add, rename or delete WordPress categories

Organize your posts into categories and get rid of “Uncategorized”.

Updated September 27, 20261 min read

Add a category

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard at https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin. See how to log in to WordPress.
  2. Go to Posts › Categories.
  3. Enter a Name. The slug (the web address) is created for you.
  4. Optionally choose a Parent Category to create a sub-category.
  5. Click Add New Category.

Delete a category

On Posts › Categories, hover over the category and click Delete. Posts in it aren’t deleted; any that have no other category move to the default category.

Get rid of “Uncategorized”

WordPress always needs a default category, so “Uncategorized” can’t be deleted while it’s the default. Either:

  • Rename it: hover over it on Posts › Categories, click Edit, change the name and slug (for example to “News”) and click Update. Or
  • Choose a different default: go to Settings › Writing, pick another Default Post Category, click Save Changes, then delete “Uncategorized”.

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