How to Add a Search Field to the Sidebar in WordPress

A search field can be an incredibly important component of a website. Not only does it allow your visitors to specify the topic or post that they want to find, it can also be useful for you as the site owner to locate a particular post that you’ve made.

Many WordPress themes will include a search field in their layout by default, but it’s possible that you don’t like the current location, or that the search bar isn’t included. Our guide below will show you how to add WordPress’s default search tool to the sidebar of your site by including it as a widget.

How to Add a Search Widget to the Sidebar in WordPress

The steps in this article were performed in the 5.2.2 version of WordPress. While we are going to be adding the search widget to the sidebar in this guide, you can also add the search widget to any of the other available widget areas in your theme.

Step 1: Sign into the admin section of your site at (yourdomain.com)/wp-admin.

Step 2: Hover over Appearance in the left column, then choose the Widgets option.

Step 3: Scroll down and click on the arrow to the right of the Search widget, choose the Primary Sidebar option, then click the Add Widget button.

If the search widget is in the wrong place in your sidebar you can always expand the Primary Sidebar widget area, then click on the Search option and drag it to the desired location.

Are you looking for some additional widget options? Find out how to get the Jetpack widgets if you’ve already installed that plugin.