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Lucas Fenwick
Lucas Fenwick

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The WordPress admin menu has been 160px since 2013 — here's how to widen it

#wordpress #webdev #css #productivity

Open wp-admin on any site with a decent plugin stack. WooCommerce, an SEO plugin, a form builder, a page builder — each adds top-level menu items, and the longer labels truncate because the admin menu is hard-fixed at 160px. That value hasn't changed in over a decade, and core exposes no setting to adjust it. Your stock options: full width, or collapsed to icons.

The free route is admin CSS:

add_action('admin_head', function () {
    echo '<style>
        #adminmenu, #adminmenuback, #adminmenuwrap { width: 240px; }
        #wpcontent, #wpfooter { margin-left: 240px; }
        #adminmenu .wp-submenu { left: 240px; }
    </style>';
});
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It works — mostly. The gotchas: the auto-fold behavior below 960px viewport fights your override, submenu flyout positioning needs the extra left rule, and RTL sites need a mirrored version. And it's a snippet you re-paste on every site you manage, with no UI for anyone non-technical.

I tested doing it from a settings panel instead with WP Adminify. Short demo below (20s, before/after).

What the 160px default costs you:

  • Long plugin menu labels truncate ("WooCommerce Analyt…")
  • Submenus feel cramped on content-heavy sites
  • No adjustment possible without code

What changed after setting Menu Width in Adminify:

  • One px field under Admin Menu → Styles — type 240, save, done
  • Menu, submenus, and content offset adjust together (no manual margin-left math)
  • Survives WordPress updates, nothing to maintain
  • Same tab handles menu font, size, and spacing — the whole sidebar in one panel

Short demo: https://youtube.com/shorts/-BT6jIiQqEo

Step-by-step doc: https://wpadminify.com/docs/adminify/admin-menu/adjust-menu-width

Do you leave the admin menu stock, or customize it — and if CSS, how do you handle the responsive fold?

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