Method #1: Via the WordPress Theme Customizer

Depending on what theme you are using, you may have the option to remove or edit the powered by WordPress footer directly in your theme customizer.

1. Go to Appearance > Customize on the WordPress dashboard
2. Click Footer > Bottom Bar
3. You can either Disable Footer Credits or put your own text in Edit Footer Credit

Method #2: Via the Native Theme Options.

This works best for most third-party themes. Sometimes, the native WordPress theme customizer may not be equipped to edit the footer in WordPress, so your best bet is to check in the theme settings first.

If you have been unable to locate the option to disable footer credits inside the theme customizer, you could also check the ‘Widgets’ section, or inside the individual theme’s options.

Method #3: Editing Footer.php

If maintaining your website’s SEO is important to you, editing your theme’s footer.php file is another easy way to remove the WordPress footer credit link. The footer.php file contains the information your site needs to display the footer of your site, including, you guessed it, the WordPress credit link.

The safest way to edit the WordPress footer code on your website is by using an SFTP file manager such as Filezilla to access your core files. For security reasons, some web hosts disable the option to edit your theme code directly from inside your WordPress admin area. If you notice that you are unable to locate your website’s theme editor inside your WordPress admin area, it might have been disabled by your host. This means that you will need an SFTP file manager to access your files. But don’t worry – we have you covered on how to go about this.

1. Connect to your site using an SFTP file manager. If you’re uncertain about how to do this, this in-depth tutorial will guide you through the process.
2. Navigate to the public_html/wp-content/themes directory.
3. Open the directory containing the theme you wish to edit.
4. Locate the footer.php file, then copy it to the appropriate child theme directory.
5. Open the footer.php file using a text editor and search and delete the footer code, depending on what theme you’re using.

Twenty Sixteen theme:

Twenty Seventeen theme:

Twenty Nineteen theme:

6. Click “Update File” and the footer credit link will be gone or modified.

Quick warning: Before making any changes to your WordPress theme, it’s always a good idea to create a child theme, rather than directly edit your WordPress website’s code.  There are a couple of reasons why you should do this:

1. Any updates that bring your theme up to the latest version could potentially undo all your hard work and revert your footer back to its pre-edited state.
2. By editing the code directly on your website, there’s a chance that you could change or delete the wrong code and break your website.