How to Fix WordPress Admin Bar Not Showing When Logged In

It’s frustrating when the WordPress admin bar is missing even when you are logged in. This can happen due to many possible reasons, including:

• Incorrect profile settings
• Plugin conflicts
• Theme file issues
• Disabling snippets in functions.php
• PHP or JavaScript issues (Advanced Solution)

Wait, Don’t freak out! All these issues are usually easy to fix. Let’s dive right into how to fix WordPress admin bar not showing when logged in for all the possible causes.

1. Check User Profile Settings

Inside “Profile,” there will be an option labeled “Show Toolbar when viewing site” beside the “Toolbar.” You have to verify if the option is checked or not.

Here is how to do it:

• Go to “Users” in the WordPress dashboard > Profile.
• Check the “Show Toolbar when viewing site” box if it is unchecked.
• After that, click “Update Profile” to save changes.

If the toolbar option is already checked and the admin bar still does not appear, proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

2. Fix Plugin Conflict Issues

Using a poorly coded plugin can lead to various issues, including the admin bar disappearing. To determine if a plugin is the culprit, you can follow these steps:

• Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your dashboard. Select all plugins and click Deactivate.

• Refresh your site to see if the admin toolbar is visible.
• Next, reactivate each plugin one at a time, and refresh your site after each activation.

If the toolbar remains missing after activating a specific plugin, that plugin is likely the cause. You can either replace it with an alternative or contact the plugin’s developer for a solution.

3. Fix Theme File Issues

If the problem isn’t related to your profile settings or plugin conflicts, it could be due to your theme. Your current theme may not have wp_footer() function, which plays a vital role in enabling many core WordPress features, including the admin bar.

To ensure that, simply switch to a default theme and refresh your site. If the admin toolbar shows up, you need to update your theme by including the wp_footer() function. 

Here is how you can do it:

• Navigate to WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Theme File Editor.
• Locate the footer.php file in the right-hand column and click on it.

• In the footer.php file, scroll down and find the closing </body> tag.
• Check if the following line is present before the tag:
  • <?php wp_footer(); ?>

If the line is missing, you need to add it manually and then click on “Update File” to save the changes.

Note: Not having “wp_head()” in your header.php file can also cause issues  like not showing the admin bar. 

4. Remove Disabling Snippets from Functions.php

Code snippets like “add_filter(‘show_admin_bar’, ‘__return_false’);” in the functions.php  can hide the admin bar. (If this snippet is not present in your functions.php file, you can skip this step.)

To identify if your theme’s functions.php has such snippets, follow these steps:

• Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Theme Editor.
• In the right sidebar, find and click on functions.php.

• Use the search function in your browser to look for “add_filter(‘show_admin_bar’, ‘__return_false’);”

• If you find the snippet, delete it and click on the Update File button.

Now simply refresh your website to see if the admin bar has been restored or not. If your function.php file doesn’t have such snippets, then enable debugging mode to deal with the issue.

5. Enable Debugging Mode to Identify PHP or JavaScript Issues

By enabling debugging mode, you can easily identify PHP or JavaScript issues causing the admin bar to go missing. (Always create a backup of your website before enabling debugging mode and any making changes.)

Here is how to do it:

• Access your WordPress files via FTP or your hosting control panel.
• Locate the root directory of your WordPress site and find the wp-config.php file and open it for editing.
• After that, look for the following line of code:

• define(‘WP_DEBUG’, false);

• Next, change the value from false to true as shown below:

• define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true);

• After making the change, save the wp-config.php file.

Now, visit your site’s dashboard to check for any PHP error messages (you will see PHP error notices typically displayed at the top of the screen.) Also, open your browser’s developer tools (Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or Cmd + Option + I on Mac) and navigate to the Console tab to look for any JavaScript errors.

Review the messages displayed in the dashboard or developer tools to identify and troubleshoot issues affecting your admin bar. After identifying issues, take steps to resolve them.

Once you fix issues, simply set WP_DEBUG back to false, like that:

• define(‘WP_DEBUG’, false);

Note: If the issue persists even after enabling debugging, it’s advisable to contact your hosting provider or seek assistance from a professional.

Closing Thoughts

Now you know how to fix the issue of the WordPress admin bar not showing when logged in. We included all the possible reasons along with step-by-step solutions for each.

Try to start by checking the user profile and then proceed to more advanced options. If you find any step hard to understand or need more assistance, please leave a comment.