How to Edit a Menu on WordPress (4 Easy Ways)

There are times when it makes sense to edit a menu on WordPress. You might want to create a mega menu to display all your web pages. Or, you can change the menu colors to reflect your branding. However, without coding skills, it can be difficult to achieve.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to edit your WordPress menu. Beginners can use the built-in options in the dashboard or install a handy plugin. Meanwhile, more experienced users can apply custom CSS 🎨 to edit the default WordPress menu.

Why edit your WordPress menu

A WordPress menu gives your content order and structure so that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for. However, while the default WordPress menu is sufficient for some websites, you might like to edit your menu to make it more unique.

For example, you can change the colors and fonts to slot in nicely with the rest of your site. Plus, you can add your most important pages, posts, and products. Or, you might even include elements like images to make it more visually appealing.

On the other hand, you can add contact details or links to your social media. Or, you can create dropdown menus or mega menus if you have lots of content pages. This is a practical option for a limited space.

Lastly, it can be a good idea to change the position of your WordPress menu (which is determined by your theme). Typically, your menu is displayed in your header. But you might also be able to configure a secondary menu, footer menu, or a mobile menu.

How to edit your menu on WordPress (4 ways)

Now that you know why it can be a good idea to edit the menu, let’s look at the best ways to do it.

1. Edit your menu in the WordPress dashboard
2. Edit your menu using the Full Site Editor (FSE)
3. Edit your menu using a plugin
4. Use CSS to edit your menu on WordPress

1. Edit your menu in the WordPress dashboard ⚙️

There are two ways you can edit a menu with built-in options. The first approach we’re going to show you works with classic WordPress themes. The second approach, which we’ll cover immediately after, works with block themes.

For the first method, we’re going to explain how to edit your WordPress menu with Neve. It’s a fast, lightweight theme that lets you change plenty of website parts.

Now, to access your menu settings, head to Appearance > Menus in your WordPress dashboard. Then, you can select a menu from the dropdown or create a custom menu using the link:

In the Add menu items section, you can add important pages and posts to your navigation menu by checking the relevant box(es). Then, click on Add to Menu:

You can reorder your menu by dragging and dropping the items around.

Additionally, you might want to create a sub-menu that opens beneath your main menu items. To do this, just drag the item slightly to the right.

Once you drop the item in place, you’ll see the words “sub item” appear next to it:

You can also add WordPress categories and custom links to your menu. Plus, if you run an ecommerce store, you can include some WooCommerce endpoints like account details and orders.

If you want to edit a menu by adding more content types, click on Screen Options:

Use the checkboxes to add extra items like products and tags. You can also remove existing items here.

Then, you’re able to determine the exact location for your menu in the Menu Settings at the bottom of the page:

Your theme might let you create horizontal menus, mobile menus, or footer menus. Once you’re happy with the changes, click on Save Menu.

2. Edit your menu using the Full Site Editor (FSE)

If you’re using a block theme like Neve FSE, you’re able to edit your menu using the Full Site Editor (FSE). To get started, go to Appearance > Editor > Navigation in your WordPress dashboard.

Then, click on the pencil icon to open the menu for editing. Here, you’ll see a preview of your menu, which updates in real time as you work.

If you want to add more menu items, simply click on the + icon within the block to search for pages and posts, or to insert custom links:

You can change the menu position using the arrow icons in the toolbar. And, you can use the toolbar to add a submenu to your navigation:

Again, you can add pages or add custom URLs. Then, use the block settings to your right to label your menu item(s) and add links.

One of the best parts about editing a menu with the FSE is that there’s much more flexibility and built-in options to take advantage of. For example, if you want to add a search block or social icons that link to your profiles, you can do it easily by clicking on the + icon in the editor. Then just search for the blocks you want and click on the ones you’d like to insert:

Meanwhile, if you open up the Styles section, you can click on Colors or Layout to change the appearance of your menu. For example, you can adjust the text color and increase block spacing.

Or, click on Blocks > Navigation to change the font, text size, letter spacing, and more:

When you’re satisfied with your menu layout and design, click the blue Save button on the top right to save your changes. With the FSE, you can add navigation menus to any location on your website.

3. Edit your menu using a plugin 🔌

If you want to edit a menu by building more complex menus, like mega menus, the built-in options may not be sufficient. In this case, you can use a plugin to create a mega menu consisting of multi-column dropdowns.

This is a great option for ecommerce stores that have lots of pages to display. Better yet, you can install a free plugin like Max Mega Menu to add this functionality to your site:

Upon successful installation, click on Mega Menu > Menu Locations:

Here, you’ll see the areas where you can add a mega menu (dependent on your theme). To enable the mega menu, select an option and tick the Enabled box:

Under Event, you can determine how visitors trigger the menu. Then, use the Effect settings to change how the menu opens.

Now, switch to the Menu Themes tab to customize the appearance of your menu. First, you’re able to change the arrow style and line height:

Meanwhile, if you head over to Menu Bar, you can alter the menu height and apply a background color. Further down, you can define the appearance of your top-level menu items:

For instance, you can change the font, colors, spacing, borders, and more.

You can do the same for your submenus in the Mega Menus tab. Plus, if you add any widgets to your mega menu (like search bars or galleries), you can customize their appearance in the Widgets section.

How to add your mega menu to WordPress

Once you’ve saved all the changes, you’re ready to add the mega menu you’ve created to an existing or new menu on your site. So, you’ll need to head to Appearance > Menus.

Now, select the relevant menu, and you should see Max Mega Menu Settings appear in the Add menu items section:

In order for this to work, you’ll need to make sure that you enabled the plugin in the Menu Locations page. You should see a Mega Menu button appear when you hover over each menu item:

If you click on this button, you can configure display settings for that specific item. Make sure to save your changes. Then, preview your menu on the front end:

If you need to tweak more settings, return to the Mega Menu tab.

4. Use CSS to edit your menu on WordPress 👨‍💻

Finally, if you’re a more advanced user, you can edit a menu using CSS. While you can edit your site files directly, it’s safer (and easier) to use the Additional CSS box in the WordPress Customizer.

You can usually find this right at the bottom of the Customizer tabs:

However, first, you’ll need to identify your theme’s menu class. To do this, right-click on your menu and select Inspect Element. Here, you can see that the Twenty Twenty theme uses the menu class “.primary-menu”.

So you’ll need to use this for all the CSS code that you write. Now, return to the Customizer and open the Additional CSS box.

If you want to increase the font size of your menu, use the following code: .primary-menu { font-size: 30px; }

Of course, you’ll need to replace .primary-menu with your theme’s menu class. If this doesn’t work, your theme may be forcing a certain style. In which case, you can add the !important tag to override the style:

Additionally, you can edit the background color of your menu using this code: .primary-menu { background-color: #add8e6; }

Then, replace the hex code to reflect your own preferences:

Another way to edit a menu is to apply a hover effect. For example, you can change the font color when visitors hover over a menu item.

To do this, use the following code: .primary-menu li.menu-item a:hover { color: #040273; }

This way, the font turns indigo when you hover over a link:

There are plenty of other ways to edit a menu using CSS. For instance, you can change the opacity, borders, and padding.

Conclusion 🧐

👉 To recap:

Do you have any questions about how to edit a WordPress menu? Let us know in the comments below!