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Disable Admin Bar (Frontend)

Remove the WordPress admin bar (toolbar) from your website’s frontend. When logged in, you’ll see your site exactly as visitors do—no black bar at the top, no 32-pixel offset, just your clean design.

Use Cases

  • Show clients the true visitor experience when previewing their logged-in site
  • Take screenshots for marketing without the admin bar visible
  • Test responsive header designs without the 32px admin bar offset interfering

How It Works

  1. Enable the module in Switchboard
  2. The admin bar is hidden on all frontend pages
  3. Logged-in users see the site exactly as visitors do
  4. Admin bar still appears in the WordPress dashboard

This module affects all logged-in users—there are no role-based exceptions.

Settings

This module has no configuration options. Simply enable it to hide the frontend admin bar.

If you need to hide the admin bar for specific user roles only, use the “Hide Admin Bar (By Role)” module instead.

What Gets Hidden

Hidden (Frontend)

  • The entire admin bar/toolbar
  • All admin bar menus and links
  • The 32px top margin WordPress adds
  • Admin bar CSS and JavaScript

Still Visible (Admin)

  • Admin bar in the WordPress dashboard
  • Admin bar on all admin pages (wp-admin/*)
  • All admin bar functionality in backend

Verification

After enabling this module:

  1. Go to your website’s frontend (while logged in)
  2. Verify the admin bar is not visible at the top
  3. Check that your header displays at the very top of the screen
  4. Visit the WordPress admin to confirm the bar still works there

FAQ

How do I access admin quickly without the bar?You can still access admin by typing /wp-admin after your domain, or use a bookmark. Consider adding a “Dashboard” link in your site’s footer or a secret location.
Does this affect other logged-in users?Yes, the admin bar is hidden for ALL logged-in users—administrators, editors, authors, subscribers, everyone.
Can I hide the admin bar for specific roles only?This module is all-or-nothing. For role-based hiding, use the “Hide Admin Bar (By Role)” module instead.
Does this remove the admin bar’s CSS/JS?Yes, WordPress doesn’t load the admin bar assets on the frontend when disabled, slightly improving page load performance.
Will this affect my theme’s sticky header?It should help! The admin bar adds a 32px top margin that can interfere with sticky headers. Removing it means your header displays exactly as designed.

For development, you might want the admin bar. Consider using this module only on staging/production sites, or toggle it when you need clean screenshots.

Common Scenarios

Client Previews

Clients often view their site while logged in. Without this module, they see the admin bar and may think it’s part of the design. Enable this for a true visitor preview.

Marketing Screenshots

Taking screenshots for social media, documentation, or marketing materials? Enable this to capture clean images without the WordPress branding.

Theme Testing

Testing a new theme’s header behavior? The admin bar can interfere with position:fixed and position:sticky elements. Remove it for accurate testing.

Member Sites

On membership sites where subscribers are always logged in, hiding the admin bar creates a cleaner user experience.

Alternative: Role-Based Hiding

If you want to hide the admin bar for some users but not others:

  1. Disable this module
  2. Enable “Hide Admin Bar (By Role)”
  3. Select which roles should NOT see the admin bar
  4. Administrators can keep access while editors/authors see clean frontend

Technical Note

This module uses WordPress’s show_admin_bar filter to completely disable frontend admin bar rendering. It’s a clean, standard WordPress approach—not CSS hiding.

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