# Remove Unused Widgets From the Elementor Panel

> Takes widgets you never use, such as the old WordPress sidebar widgets, out of the Elementor panel so editors find the right ones faster.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Page Builders & Themes](https://wpide.com/library/category/page-builders/)
- Tags: elementor, widgets, editor, cleanup
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/elementor-unregister-unused-widgets/

## Code

```php
// Widget names to remove.
$wpide_el_unused_widgets = array(
    'wp-widget-pages',
    'wp-widget-calendar',
    'wp-widget-archives',
    'wp-widget-meta',
    'wp-widget-rss',
    'wp-widget-tag_cloud',
    'wp-widget-recent-comments',
    'read-more',
);

add_action( 'elementor/widgets/register', function ( $widgets_manager ) use ( $wpide_el_unused_widgets ) {
    foreach ( $wpide_el_unused_widgets as $name ) {
        if ( method_exists( $widgets_manager, 'unregister' ) ) {
            $widgets_manager->unregister( $name );
        }
    }
}, 99 );
```

## Notes

Widget names appear in the panel's HTML as data-widget_type, for example "wp-widget-calendar". Existing uses of a removed widget stop rendering.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Remove Unused Widgets From the Elementor Panel" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/