Hide featured images in WordPress comes in handy in some situations. For example, you desire to achieve a minimalist look or eliminate pictures from certain areas on your website.
Imagine that you have a blog post which looks cluttered with the featured image. However, you still want the featured image to display on the blog listing page. In this case, hiding the image on your individual blog post without removing it entirely will be the ticket.
The following instructions will help you hide WordPress featured images properly using the built-in function and other options.
Let’s get into it!
- #1 Upload Featured Images Selectively
- #2 Remove Uploaded Featured Images
- #3 Disable Auto-Set Featured Images
- #4 Hide Featured Images in WordPress via Theme Settings
- #5 Use Code to Hide Featured Images in WordPress
- #6 Activate a Hiding Featured Image Plugin
- #7 Enable a File Protection Plugin
#1 Upload Featured Images Selectively
The simplest way is to upload and set your featured images in a selective and well-arranged way. You should have a list of blog posts in which they are determined to have featured images or not. By defining and planning your images, you can take full control over them and manage them effectively.
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Leave the Featured Image section blank if you don’t want the post’s featured image to show up anywhere.
To understand WordPress featured images and how to use them, check out our article for more details.
#2 Remove Uploaded Featured Images
After setting a featured image for your post, take these steps to remove it. This method works well with both the Classic editor and the Gutenberg editor.
- In your post or page, find the Featured image section.
- Click the Remove featured image button.
3. Preview and Update your post to finish.
However, WordPress occasionally sets a default featured image for all your blog posts automatically or assigns the first image in the post as the featured image. That’s why your posts still have featured images even though you’ve deleted them or not uploaded any images.
Encounter this issue? Follow the method below.
#3 Disable Auto-Set Featured Images
Your featured images display in 2 locations:
- Posts/Pages: Usually at the beginning of a post or page.
- Blog Gallery Page: In the post listing you have published on your website.
If you’re using a featured image plugin, chances are it automatically generates a default featured image for your content. In other words, the auto-generated featured images won’t show up in your posts but on the post gallery page.
The functionalities and settings of each plugin are different. You’d better check whether your plugin provides an option to disable the auto-set featured images. You can contact the plugin’s support team for help as well.
Let’s say you’re using the Auto Featured Image plugin. To disable the automatic featured images:
- In your admin dashboard, navigate to Auto Post Thumbnail → Settings.
2. Scroll down to Enable automatic post thumbnail generation and turn it Off.
#4 Hide Featured Images in WordPress via Theme Settings
The Neve theme gives you the ability to hide featured images sitewide and even on certain posts. In addition, you can choose between hiding featured images from the blog listing page and a single post/page, or both.
Hide Thumbnail Images from Blog Listing Pages
First, you need to install and activate the Neve theme. Then:
- Head over to Appearance → Customize and select Layout → Blog/Archive.
- In the Post Content Order menu, press the eye icon under the Thumbnail section.
This will deactivate the display of thumbnails on your blog gallery page. As a result, only post titles, descriptions, and metadata you included are shown.
Conceal Post Thumbnails from the Entire Site
Besides the post listing page, the Neve theme allows hiding all featured images on your posts/pages.
- Go to Appearance → Customize in your WordPress dashboard, then click on Layout → Single Post.
- Make sure you’re choosing the Normal mode under the Header Layout.
3. Scroll down to the Elements Order section and unmark the eye icon next to the Thumbnail element.
4. Hit the Publish button to make the thumbnails disappear on the post view.
In case you’re using the Cover instead of the Normal header layout, here’s the route:
- Scroll down to the Layout section and toggle the Hide featured image option to On.
2. Press the Publish button and enjoy the results.
Bear in mind that this method hides the featured images of every post across your website. But the images are still visible on the blog listing page. It’s a great option if you want your posts to be neat and the featured images to remain on the blog gallery page.
Hide Featured Images on Specific Blog Posts
Finally, the Neve theme assists you to hide the thumbnail images from single posts, while leaving them enabled by default.
- Open the post you wish to hide the featured image.
- In the post edit screen, select the N icon in the top-right corner to open the Neve Options.
3. Turn off the Featured Image option in the Elements section.
#5 Use Code to Hide Featured Images in WordPress
What if your theme doesn’t give you the option to hide featured images? You can write code to do so.
- In your admin panel, go to Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS.
- Copy and paste the code below into it:
.entry-content img {
display: none;
}
This will hide the featured image for all of your posts. In case you want to hide a featured image of a particular post, type in the following code:
.post-12345 .post-image {
display: none;
Remember to replace “12345” with your actual post ID.
3. Click Publish to complete.
Please note that this technique doesn’t permanently delete the featured images from your WordPress media library. Instead, it only hides the pictures from specific posts.
#6 Activate a Hiding Featured Image Plugin
This method is beginner-friendly. Just activate a plugin, and it will help you handle the hassle. We’ll show you how to display/hide featured images on posts/pages using a free plugin.
- Head over to Plugins → Add New.
- Search for the Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages plugin and click Install → Activate.
3. Go to the post/page you desire to hide the featured image.
4. Under the Featured Image section, mark the checkbox Display featured image in post lists only, hide on singular views.
5. Hit the Update or Publish button to make the changes live.
#7 Enable a File Protection Plugin
Lastly, an interesting method is using a file protection plugin to hide your featured images from the public eye. It not only protects your images from unauthorized views but also grants access permission to specific user roles.
- Activate the PDA Gold plugin and its Access Restriction addon (optional).
- Navigate to Media → Library.
- Click the Protect button to hide your featured image from views and Google.
4. Select the Configure file protection option.
5. Choose the File Access Permission tab and select the user roles you want to grant file access.
6. Press the Save changes button to finish.
Hide Featured Images in WordPress with Ease
We’ve demonstrated 7 simple ways to hide featured images in WordPress. You can choose between using the built-in function, theme settings, codes, or plugins according to your needs. Now it’s high time to pick an ideal method and roll up your sleeves.
If you have any problems following our instructions, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comment section below. And most importantly, don’t forget to subscribe to our website for more useful tutorials.
