Table of contents

Why WordPress generates auto excerpts by defaultMethod 1: change the syndication setting in WordPressMethod 2: modify your theme’s template filesOptional: use the “More” block for manual controlImportant considerations before you disable auto excerptsHow to test if auto excerpts are truly goneTroubleshooting tipsNext stepsAdditional resources

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WordPress Guide → Admin → Disable Auto Excerpt

How to disable auto excerpt on WordPress

Auto excerpts in WordPress can make your blog pages look clean and organized, but they aren’t always the best choice. If you want more control over how your content appears, or if you simply prefer displaying full posts instead of truncated previews, it’s easy to disable this feature.

Let’s walk through how.

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Why WordPress generates auto excerpts by default

WordPress automatically generates excerpts to create a smoother browsing experience. Here’s why it does this:

It improves page load times by displaying less content at once.
It helps archive and category pages stay organized and scannable.
It creates uniform previews without requiring manual input for every post.

However, automatic excerpts aren’t always ideal, especially when you want full control over post presentation.

Method 1: change the syndication setting in WordPress

You can start by adjusting your site’s Reading settings. This affects how content is displayed in RSS feeds and, depending on your theme, possibly on your archive pages too.

Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
Navigate to Settings > Reading.
Find the “For each post in a feed, include” option.
Select Full text instead of Excerpt.
Click Save Changes to apply the new setting.

Important: This setting doesn’t affect all themes. Some themes are coded to always use excerpts on archive pages no matter what.

Method 2: modify your theme’s template files

If the setting change doesn’t fully disable auto excerpts on your site, you’ll need to dig into your theme files.

Where to look:

index.php
archive.php
home.php
Custom templates like archive-post.php

What to edit:

Find instances of the_excerpt().
Replace them with the_content().

This tells WordPress to output the full post content instead of a shortened version.

Note: Always create and use a child theme when making edits. This protects your customizations from being overwritten when the parent theme updates.

Optional: use the “More” block for manual control

If you want a compromise between showing full posts and still giving readers a preview, consider using the “More” block in the WordPress editor.

How it works:

Insert the “More” block where you want the preview to end.
WordPress will display only the content above the “More” block on blog and archive pages.
A “Continue Reading” link will lead users to the full post.

This method gives you better editorial control without forcing full posts everywhere.

Important considerations before you disable auto excerpts

SEO and social media previews

Excerpts often serve as the default text for meta descriptions and social shares. Without crafted excerpts, search engines and social platforms might pull the first few sentences of your post instead. This could weaken click-through rates unless you’re manually setting meta descriptions with an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO.

User experience and readability

Loading entire posts on your blog and archive pages can make your site slower and harder to navigate. If your posts are long, readers might have a harder time finding what interests them quickly.

Consider your content length and site speed before disabling excerpts everywhere.

How to test if auto excerpts are truly gone

After you make these changes, verify that full content is being displayed:

Visit your blog homepage and category/archive pages.
Check your site’s RSS feed (yourdomain.com/feed) to confirm full text is showing.
View the source code and look for the_content() output if you’re unsure.

If you use caching plugins or CDN services, clear your caches to ensure you see the latest version.

Troubleshooting tips

Things don’t always go according to plan …

Still seeing excerpts? Some themes hard-code excerpts into their templates. Double-check template files.
Using a block theme? You may need to modify templates through the Site Editor (Appearance > Editor).
Weird formatting after switching? Some themes add custom length limits or trimming functions through functions.php. You might need to remove those filters.

Getting started with disabling auto excerpts

Auto excerpts aren’t the best fit for every WordPress site. Disabling them can give you more control over your blog layout and how your posts are presented to visitors.

If you want your archive and blog pages to display full posts, start by changing the Reading settings. If that doesn’t fully work, move on to theme file edits or use the “More” block for even finer control.

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