You know that feeling when you’re logged into your WordPress site, ready to make some changes, and then—all of a sudden—the WordPress admin bar is not showing.
You’re just there staring at your site and wondering why the admin bar isn’t there. And no matter how much you refresh the page, it’ll still remain the same.
Honestly, It’s frustrating!
Even more frustrating when you need it for quick access to your settings.
But don’t worry, there’s a solution to this problem.
I’ve put together this guide so you can have some simple and advanced fixes to solve the WordPress admin bar not showing problem.
I’ll cover the necessary problems, whether it’s a theme conflict, a plugin issue, or just a quick settings tweak.
I believe after this, you’ll get that admin bar back where it belongs.
📌 However, I want you to see the instructions below as a checklist. If you try everything and it still doesn’t work, you can always contact your hosting provider’s Customer Support for help.
Now, let’s look at how to fix the WordPress Admin bar that isn’t showing up.
Why You Experience WordPress Admin Bar Not Showing
As I said earlier, when you’re faced with the issue of the WordPress admin bar not showing, it can be a bit frustrating, especially when you’re used to quickly accessing your WordPress dashboard or making edits.
The WordPress admin bar is there to make browsing easier by giving you quick access to these important areas.
But when it disappears from the front end, you have to take extra steps to get back to the dashboard. Trust me, it is stressful.
There are a few reasons why this happens, and they are very common. So, this means it won’t be hard to fix them if you can understand the reasons why they happen.
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Usually, when the admin bar goes missing, it’s because of issues with your theme or plugins.
Sometimes, a plugin or your active theme might stop WordPress from running the code needed to show the admin bar.
This is often linked to the wp_footer() function, which is responsible for executing this code.
If your theme doesn’t have this function or a plugin is interfering with it, you’re likely to run into the missing admin bar issue.
This is what it looks like when the admin bar is not showing. You’ll usually see a white space at the top:
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User settings are something also to check.
It might sound simple, but sometimes, the admin bar is turned off in your profile settings.
If that toolbar, when viewing the site option, isn’t checked, the admin bar won’t appear on the front end of your site.
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We can’t forget about custom code, either.
Sometimes, custom code gets added to the functions.php file to intentionally hide the admin bar.
You might find something like add_filter(‘show_admin_bar,’ ‘__return_false’) in there, which could be what’s hiding your admin bar.
These are the main reasons why the WordPress admin bar not showing issue occurs.
Steps To Fix the Admin Bar Not Showing
Now that you know why the reason behind the WordPress admin bar not showing, fixing this issue becomes much easier.
Let me break down the most likely causes of the issue.
1. Check User Profile Settings
As I pointed out in the previous section, user profile settings are a suspect. So, sometimes, the admin bar is usually turned off in your profile.
To check if this is the cause, go to the WordPress admin area, click on Users, then Profile, and look for the Toolbar option.
If the box for “Show Toolbar when viewing site” isn’t marked, you won’t be able to see the admin bar when you’re browsing the front end of your site.
2. Resolve Plugin Conflicts
Poorly coded plugins or conflict plugins are another common cause of the WordPress admin bar not showing, and it can cause a lot of problems on your site.
If you have a lot of installed plugins, especially caching plugins like WP Fastest Cache, they might interfere with how WordPress displays the admin bar.
A conflict between two plugins or between a plugin and your theme can cause the bar to disappear.
This often happens when a plugin tries to optimize the site but ends up affecting the display of the admin bar.
So, you need to find which plugin is the main cause of the problem. To do this, you need to access the active Plugins page.
To view the page, go to Plugins, then Installed Plugins.
After that, select all the plugins, then click on Deactivate, which you will find in the Bulk Actions dropdown menu.
Now, select the Apply button to deactivate every plugin.
After that, select the Activate button under each plugin, one after the other.
Here’s what to observe: If you notice that any plugin you activate causes the admin bar to not show up, you should deactivate it immediately and find a replacement.
3. Re-enable Admin Bar via Theme Settings
I know you love your current theme, but unfortunately, your favorite theme could also be blamed.
Some themes, especially older or poorly coded themes, may not include the correct code to display the admin bar.
If the theme’s footer.php file is missing the essential wp_footer() function, the admin bar won’t load properly.
If you want to fix it, you first need to switch back to a default theme so you can see if your existing theme is the culprit.
Just go to Appearance, then Themes in your WordPress dashboard, move your cursor over any of the default theme options, and then select Activate.
After doing this and the admin bar shows, this will help you know that your current WordPress theme is the issue.
Next, change back to your initial theme and do a complete WordPress backup. This will help you restore your site in case something goes wrong.
If you have a WordPress hosting account, you can connect to your WordPress site using the File Manager app in their dashboard. You can also use the SFTP/FTP client.
Next, locate your website theme folder through wp-content—themes—your theme name, and look for a file called footer.php.
If you find it, open the file in your desired text editor and scroll to the bottom of the file. Then, check if this code [<?php wp_footer(); ?>] is before the concluding <body> tag.
If you can’t find this code, you’ll have to add it and upload the saved file back to your server.
In addition, the issue could be that the theme’s functions.php file added by your theme developer might have hidden the WordPress admin bar.
To correct this, open up your functions.php file, look for this code snippet in the file [add_filter( ‘show_admin_bar,’ ‘__return_false’ );], and delete it.
Once you’re done with that, save the file and upload it back to your website’s theme folder.
4. Clear Cache (Browser and WordPress Cache)
Caching plugins like WP Fastest Cache can sometimes save an older version of your site where the admin bar isn’t visible.
Even after you’ve fixed the problem, the cached version may still hide the bar.
The solution to this is to clear the cache, both in your browser and through your caching plugin, to see if that restores the admin bar.
You can use a keyboard shortcut for most browsers to clear the cache quickly.
While in your browser, hit the Ctrl + Shift + Delete button on the keyboard at once to open the correct window.
This shortcut will work for Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox browsers.
But it’s important to ensure you close the browser you use and restart it after clearing the cache and cookies.
1. How to Clear Cache in a Google Chrome Browser
Open Chrome. Click on More Tools (the three-dot menu at the top right corner).
Select History, Then click on Clear Browsing Data.
A panel will show up. Click on All Time as the time range.
Check the boxes for cookies, other site data, and cached images and files. Then, click Clear Data.
If you’re using a Windows computer, re-open your Chrome browser to save your changes.
But if you’re using an Apple computer, select Quit on the Chrome menu at the top menu bar for the changes to take effect.
2. How to Clear Cache Through a Caching Plugin (WP Fastest Cache Example)
In your WordPress admin area, you will see the WP Fastest Cache logo. It’s usually a jaguar with the letters WPFC.
Hover around the logo and click on it.
You’ll see a dropdown menu with two options: Delete Cache and Delete Cache and Minified CSS/JS.
Select the option you need to remove the cached files from your website.
After that, wait for the process to complete, and the admin bar should reappear if this is causing the issue.
How to Prevent the WordPress Admin Bar from Disappearing Again
As you now know the causes and how to fix the issue of the WordPress admin bar not showing, it’s time to learn the steps to prevent it from happening again.
1. Regularly Update WordPress, Themes, and Plugins
One of the easiest ways to prevent problems with the WordPress admin bar not showing is to ensure that your WordPress installation, theme files, and plugin files are always up to date.
Many issues happen when outdated themes or plugins trigger conflicts with the current version of WordPress.
So, make it a habit to check for updates regularly and apply them when available.
2. Use Reliable Themes and Plugins
Not all themes and plugins are the same. Some function well without affecting your site.
But, some poorly coded themes or plugins cause unnecessary problems for your site, just like the issue we’ve been discussing in this post.
The way you can avoid this issue is to always go for themes and plugins from trusted sources.
Before you install new themes or plugins, check user reviews and ratings.
Avoid using plugins that are outdated or abandoned. If you don’t, they’re more likely to create conflicts.
3. Test Changes in Troubleshooting Mode
Always test any changes you’re making in troubleshooting mode first each time you’re making changes to your site, whether it’s adding a new plugin or switching a theme.
This will allow you to detect any possible conflicts before they cause the admin bar or other parts of your site to malfunction.
The purpose of testing in troubleshooting mode is to ensure that your changes don’t mistakenly mess up key functions like the WP admin bar.
4. Backup Your Website Regularly
Always maintain a recent backup of your website. It will help you avoid technical issues.
If something goes wrong, having a backup allows you to immediately restore your site to how it was before.
You can do automatic backups with a lot of WordPress plugins, making it easy to protect your site.
Conclusion
Dealing with the WordPress admin bar not showing is usually not a good experience. But the good news is that most of the time, it’s a problem that can be fixed.
I’ve shown you how you can make quick adjustments to your user settings, resolve conflicts with plugins, resolve issues with your WordPress theme, or resolve a caching problem.
Now, you have clear steps to take to make the WP admin bar come back.
If you’ve tried all these steps and the WordPress admin bar still isn’t showing, it might be time to get some professional help.
WordPress developers or support services can examine your site’s code and fix things without you worrying about making it worse.
