How to Hide Admin Notices and "Nags" in the WordPress Dashboard

For many WordPress site administrators and developers, working in the WordPress Dashboard is a daily routine. However, one nagging issue is the overwhelming number of admin notices and notifications—often called “nags”—that flood the dashboard interface. These messages can range from helpful alerts to promotional messages from theme and plugin developers. While some of these notices are important, many simply add to visual clutter and disrupt productivity.

TLDR

Admin notices in WordPress are system, theme, or plugin messages typically seen at the top of the Dashboard. While a few are helpful, many are persistent and promotional. There are several code-based and plugin-based methods to hide these notices and improve dashboard cleanliness. This guide covers safe and effective ways to reduce or eliminate admin notices without hurting functionality.

What Are Admin Notices and Why Do They Appear?

Admin notices in WordPress are messages displayed in the dashboard, usually after performing an action, installing a plugin, or updating your theme. They serve multiple purposes:

System Alerts – Core functionality updates or critical errors.
Plugin Notifications – Reminders, setup suggestions, or upsell messages.
Theme Notices – Instructions or compatibility warnings.

While its intention is to inform, overuse by plugin and theme developers sometimes results in spammy or persistent messages that do not go away even after dismissal.

Why You Might Want to Hide Admin Notices

There are several valid reasons for wanting to remove or suppress these notifications:

Cleaner User Interface – Minimize distraction and maintain focus.
Professionalism – For client sites, constant prompts to upgrade or review plugins look unprofessional.
Better Performance – Though minor, each notice adds to the backend load.
Avoid Confusion – Less tech-savvy users may be overwhelmed with non-essential messages.

Three Common Methods to Hide Admin Notices

There are a few ways to manage or eliminate admin notices in WordPress. Some are more manual, while others utilize third-party plugins.

1. Use a Plugin to Hide Notices

This is by far the easiest option, especially for non-developers. A few commonly used plugins include:

Hide Admin Notices – Automatically filters out most admin notices across all plugin and theme types.
Admin Notices Manager – Allows grouping and reviewing notices without displaying them on every page load.
WP Notification Control – Grants fine-tuned control over which user roles can see notices.

These tools often come with UI options that let you toggle notices on/off and even choose where and when to show them.

2. Custom Code Snippet

For developers or advanced users, a quick code snippet added to functions.php or your custom plugin can suppress notices. Here’s a basic example:

add_action('admin_init', function () {
  remove_all_actions('admin_notices');
  remove_all_actions('all_admin_notices');
});

This will remove all standard admin notices, regardless of their origin. However, this method is broad and may suppress important system alerts too.

For more targeted control, you can filter out specific notices by class or plugin source. For example, to hide only certain plugin messages:

add_action('admin_head', function () {
  echo '<style>
    .notice.notice-success, 
    .update-nag, 
    .plugin-install-notice {
      display: none !important;
    }
  </style>';
});

Note that this approach merely hides the elements visually via CSS. They still exist in the DOM and get processed by WordPress.

3. Using User Roles to Limit Display

Some notices are only shown based on the user’s permissions. If you’re the only one managing your site, this may not help, but for client sites you can:

Create a custom user role with limited capabilities.
Login as that user to show a cleaner dashboard without administrative nags.
Use plugins like User Role Editor for granular control over permissions.

While this doesn’t completely hide notices, it’s a strategic way to manage who sees them.

Advanced Tips for Developers

For those developing for clients or building custom WordPress themes, it helps to create a consistent, clutter-free backend. Here are some pro-level suggestions:

Encapsulate Admin Styles: Enqueue custom admin styles that target common notice classes.
Target Based on Plugin/Theme Slug: Use conditional logic to apply CSS or functions only when certain plugins are active.
Whitelist System Notices: Instead of removing all, allow only essential notices using regular expressions or class attributes.

Risks and Considerations

As with any customization, there are trade-offs:

Missed Critical Alerts – You might hide vital warnings about security vulnerabilities or update requirements.
Temporary Fixes – Some plugin developers change the class names or structure of notices, bypassing your styles or filters.
Plugin Compatibility – Some hide-notice plugins might clash with security or admin panel customization plugins.

To avoid potential problems, always test in a staging environment and maintain a log of what was hidden and why.

Best Practices

Instead of blindly suppressing all notices, consider applying the following best practices:

Log Hidden Notices: Store suppressed notices in a custom admin log page accessible only to super administrators.
Review Periodically: Unhide notices during monthly site maintenance to check for important updates.
Educate Your Clients: Provide documentation on the most common notices and what they mean.

Conclusion

Admin notices play a key role in communicating system events and plugin activities, but they don’t always serve the end-user well—especially when they become excessive. Learning how to manage or suppress them intelligently can create a more efficient and visually appealing back-end environment. Whether you choose plugins or code-based methods, the key is balancing cleanliness with awareness of system health.

FAQ

Q: Is it safe to hide all admin notices?
A: Not entirely. Some notices are vital for plugin compatibility or security. Use filters cautiously or whitelist essential ones.
Q: Can I allow only certain user roles to see notices?
A: Yes, plugins like WP Notification Control allow you to manage which roles can view admin messages.
Q: Will hiding admin messages break plugins?
A: Usually no, but some plugins rely on those notices for onboarding. Test significant changes before pushing live.
Q: Is there any performance benefit?
A: Minimal, but by reducing the DOM elements and scripts loaded with certain notices, you may see a slightly faster dashboard.
Q: Do I need to update custom code snippets after WordPress updates?
A: Sometimes. Major WordPress updates may change how notice classes or hooks work. Keep your codebase updated accordingly.

Jonathan Dough