Remove WordPress Backend Dashboard Widgets

WordPress backend dashboard widgets can be annoying, dangerous, fugly or anxiety producing overload for those leaning to the OCD side.

Or you may want to not have your client install Gutenberg from the Try Gutenberg widget and make life interesting or inadvertently visit the Customiser and wreck havoc on your design.

Luckily you can remove some or all of these backend delights by adding the code below to your WordPress child theme.

add_action( 'wp_dashboard_setup', 'bt_remove_dashboard_widgets' );
/**
 *
 *  Remove WordPress Dashboard Widgets
 * 
 */
function bt_remove_dashboard_widgets() {

	remove_meta_box( 'dashboard_primary','dashboard','side' ); // WordPress.com Blog
	remove_meta_box( 'dashboard_plugins','dashboard','normal' ); // Plugins
	remove_meta_box( 'dashboard_right_now','dashboard', 'normal' ); // Right Now
	remove_action( 'welcome_panel','wp_welcome_panel' ); // Welcome Panel
	remove_action( 'try_gutenberg_panel', 'wp_try_gutenberg_panel'); // Try Gutenberg
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_quick_press','dashboard','side'); // Quick Press widget
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_drafts','dashboard','side'); // Recent Drafts
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_secondary','dashboard','side'); // Other WordPress News
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_incoming_links','dashboard','normal'); //Incoming Links
	remove_meta_box('rg_forms_dashboard','dashboard','normal'); // Gravity Forms
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_comments','dashboard','normal'); // Recent Comments
	remove_meta_box('icl_dashboard_widget','dashboard','normal'); // Multi Language Plugin
	remove_meta_box('dashboard_activity','dashboard', 'normal'); // Activity
}

The code is added to your functions.php file and each remove line removes a certain widget, to keep widgets just delete the line or start it with a comment // – each widget is described of what it is at the end of the line in last comment.

And voila….

The emptiness