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How to Change a WordPress Slug (Posts, Pages & Categories)

5 min read

WordPress automatically generates a URL slug from your post title, but the default is rarely optimal. Here's how to change it for any content type — and how to avoid breaking your SEO when you do.

Changing a Post or Page Slug

Block Editor (Gutenberg)

  1. Open the post or page in the editor
  2. Click the Settings panel (gear icon) on the right
  3. Under Summary, find the URL section
  4. Click the URL to edit the slug
  5. Type your new slug (use lowercase, hyphens, no spaces)
  6. Click Update to save

Classic Editor

  1. Open the post in the editor
  2. Below the title, you'll see the permalink with an Edit button
  3. Click Edit, type the new slug, click OK
  4. Click Update

Quick Edit

  1. Go to Posts > All Posts
  2. Hover over a post and click Quick Edit
  3. Edit the Slug field directly
  4. Click Update

Changing a Category or Tag Slug

  1. Go to Posts > Categories (or Tags)
  2. Hover over the category and click Edit
  3. Change the Slug field
  4. Click Update

Changing the Author Slug

WordPress uses the username as the author archive slug (/author/username/). Since you can't change the username directly, use the Edit Author Slug plugin to customize it.

Bulk Editing Slugs

For large sites, manually editing each slug is impractical. Options include:

  • Quick Edit: Fastest for small batches (5-20 posts)
  • Database query: Direct SQL for mass updates (back up first!)
  • Plugin: Plugins like "Permalink Manager" allow bulk slug editing with a UI

SEO Considerations When Changing Slugs

Changing a slug changes the URL, which means:

  • All existing backlinks break. Any links from other sites, social media, or bookmarks will 404.
  • Search engine rankings reset. Google treats the new URL as a new page until the redirect is discovered.
  • Internal links break. Any links within your own site pointing to the old URL will 404.

Always Set Up a 301 Redirect

After changing a slug, redirect the old URL to the new one:

  • Plugin method: Use "Redirection" or "Yoast SEO Premium" (auto-redirects on slug change)
  • .htaccess method: Redirect 301 /old-slug /new-slug
  • Nginx method: rewrite ^/old-slug$ /new-slug permanent;

WordPress Slug Best Practices

  • Set the right slug before publishing — changing later is costly
  • Remove stop words: "how-to-change-slug" not "how-to-change-a-wordpress-slug"
  • Include your target keyword
  • Keep it under 5 words
  • Use only lowercase letters and hyphens

Generate Optimized WordPress Slugs

Use our WordPress slug generator to create SEO-optimized slugs from your post titles. For general use, try the URL slug generator or the blog slug generator.