What Is Screen Options in WordPress?
Screen Options is a collapsible tab at the top right of most WordPress admin screens, under the toolbar. Click it to choose which columns, panels, and meta boxes appear on that screen and how many items lists display. Each screen has its own set; the block editor replaces the tab with a Preferences menu.
More About Screen Options
The Screen Options tab helps you organize your view of the WordPress admin dashboard and most other admin screens. It shows or hides parts of the page, such as columns, widgets, and meta boxes, and it sets how many items a list displays.
Where to find the Screen Options tab
Screen Options is a hanging tab in the top-right corner of the screen, directly under the toolbar and next to the Help tab. Click it to expand a panel of checkboxes and fields, make your changes, then click the tab again to collapse it. Each screen offers its own set:
- List screens (Posts, Pages, Comments, Media, Users): a checkbox for each column, plus a Number of items per page field.
- Dashboard: a checkbox for each widget, such as Activity and At a Glance.
- Classic editor edit screens: toggles for meta boxes such as Excerpt, Slug, and Custom Fields.
A worked example: the Posts list screen
Go to Posts, then All Posts, and click Screen Options. The Number of items per page field controls pagination: WordPress shows 20 posts per page by default, so reviewing a 300-post archive takes 15 screens. Raise the value to 100 and the same job takes 3. The column checkboxes work the same way: uncheck Comments if your site doesn't use them and the list gets easier to scan. Click Apply, and WordPress remembers your choices the next time you open the screen.
Screen Options vs. the block editor
The block editor, the default post and page editor since WordPress 5.0 (December 2018), doesn't have a Screen Options tab. Its equivalent is Preferences: click the three vertical dots in the top right of the editor and select Preferences to choose which panels, like Discussion or Excerpt, appear in the settings sidebar.
- Dashboard and list screens: the classic Screen Options tab still appears here.
- Block editor: open the three-dot Options menu and select Preferences; the Document settings section shows or hides individual panels.
- Classic Editor plugin: install it to bring back the old Screen Options tab, meta box toggles included, on the edit screen.
Getting a missing box back
When a familiar box disappears from an edit screen, Screen Options is usually the fix. In the classic editor, open Screen Options and re-check the missing box, whether that's Excerpt, Slug, or Custom Fields. In the block editor, click the three dots, choose Preferences, and turn the panel back on. Hiding a box never deletes anything; the content stays in your database and reappears as soon as you check the box again.
Frequently Asked Questions
- No. WordPress stores Screen Options settings in each user's account (the usermeta table), so hiding columns, toggling Dashboard widgets, or changing items per page only changes your own admin view. Co-authors see the defaults until they adjust their own settings.
- If you're editing a post or page in the block editor, there is no tab; use Preferences instead. On other screens, some pages have no configurable options, and a plugin or theme can also remove the tab. Deactivate recent plugins to test.
- Not from the admin area. Screen Options are personal settings, but a developer can define site-wide defaults in code with core filters such as default_hidden_columns, or with a plugin. Users can still override those defaults from their own tab.
Powerful WordPress Hosting
Reliable, lightning-fast hosting solutions specifically optimized for WordPress. Find the perfect plan for you by clicking below.
WordPress Hosting Plans