How to customize the WordPress admin menu

List the menu items you want to hide, rename, reorder, or add. Decide whether the change applies to everyone or only users with a particular capability. Use capabilities rather than checking role names where possible, because custom roles and permission changes can make role-name checks unreliable.

Remember that the admin menu is separate from the WordPress toolbar, dashboard widgets, and the permissions that protect each screen.

For a small, fixed set of changes, add code to a site-specific plugin or your child theme’s functions.php. WordPress builds the admin menu before the admin_menu action runs, which is the normal place to add or remove menu items. Use remove_menu_page() for a top-level item and remove_submenu_page() for a submenu item.

For example, the pattern is add_action( 'admin_menu', 'your_callback' );, followed by a callback containing the correct menu slug. A top-level item might use a slug such as tools.php; plugin and custom post type slugs are often different, so do not guess them.

Wrap menu changes in a capability check when they should affect only certain users, such as if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) { return; }. Hiding a link is not the same as securing the screen: WordPress documentation warns that removed submenu items may still be reachable by direct URL, so the underlying capability must also block access.

Test with a real account for each affected capability. Do not assume that an Editor, Shop Manager, or custom role has the same permissions on every site.

Renaming or moving existing items requires changing the global menu arrays during admin_menu, or using WordPress’s menu-order filters. To customise top-level ordering, enable custom_menu_order and return the desired slug sequence through menu_order; items you omit stay after the listed items in their normal relative order.

Use the actual slug, not the visible label. Plugin menus may be registered later than core menus, so a removal can fail until you use a later priority. Submenus can also need a high priority, around 110, depending on when the plugin registers them.

Clear any server, page, or object cache, then sign in as each affected user. Check the desktop and collapsed admin sidebar, submenu links, direct URLs, and screens added by plugins such as WooCommerce or page builders.

If an item does not disappear, inspect the registered menu slug rather than changing random hook names. A common Friday-afternoon failure is using remove_menu_page() for a submenu, or hiding a link while leaving the underlying capability open. Keep custom code in a site-specific plugin or child theme so a parent-theme update does not overwrite it.

For drag-and-drop ordering, renamed labels, custom icons, and different menus for different roles, install and activate Admin Menu Editor Pro, then open its settings from the WordPress dashboard. Select a menu item, change its label, icon, parent, or visibility, and save the configuration. Its documented feature set includes menu rearranging, hiding, permission changes, custom menu items, and Pro controls for per-role visibility and exporting configurations.

The manual route is fine when you need two or three permanent changes and are comfortable maintaining PHP. Use the plugin route when non-developers need to edit menus, when several roles need different dashboards, or when you must repeat the same configuration across multiple sites.