How to Rename a Post Category in WordPress

Creating categories for your posts in WordPress is important for the navigation of your site. It provides a convenient way for readers to check out the information that is important to them by seeing all of the posts that you have placed in a category.

We have previously written about creating new categories, which is something that you may do when you are first creating your site, but also as the site grows and you find new areas of interest that you want to write about. Over time you might find that the name of a category had previously seemed good, but has now become outdated or, possibly, even incorrect. Fortunately you can change the name of a category.

How to Change the Name of a WordPress Category

The steps in this article were performed in WordPress 5.1.1. These steps assume that you have an existing category and that you wish to rename it. Note that you don’t necessarily need to change the “slug” for the category, which is how you find it from the address bar, but you may do so if you wish. However, you will want to set up a redirect so that any links to that old URL take people to the correct location. You can use something like this Redirection plugin to manage your redirect.

Step 1: Sign into your WordPress admin dashboard at (yourdomain.com)/wp-admin.

Step 2: Hover over the Posts option at the left side of the window, then choose the Categories option.

Step 3: Mouse over the category that you wish to change, then click the Edit button.

Step 4: Click inside the Name field and delete the old name, then enter the new one.

Step 5: Scroll to the bottom of the menu and click the Update button.

You should then be able to go to your site and find an instance of the category where you will see the new name.