Restoring the classic Widgets Editor

There are several ways to disable the new Widgets Block Editor.

Using remove_theme_support

Themes may disable the Widgets Block Editor by calling remove_theme_support( 'widgets-block-editor' ).

For example, a theme may have the following PHP code in functions.php.

function example_theme_support() {
    remove_theme_support( 'widgets-block-editor' );
}
add_action( 'after_setup_theme', 'example_theme_support' );

Using the Classic Widgets plugin

End users may disable the Widgets Block Editor by installing and activating the Classic Widgets plugin.

With this plugin installed, the Widgets Block Editor can be toggled on and off by deactivating and activating the plugin.

Using a filter

the use_widgets_block_editor filter controls whether or not the Widgets Block Editor is enabled.

For example, a site administrator may include the following PHP code in a mu-plugin to disable the Widgets Block Editor.

add_filter( 'use_widgets_block_editor', '__return_false' );

For more advanced uses, you may supply your own function. In this example, the Widgets Block Editor is disabled for a specific user.

function example_use_widgets_block_editor( $use_widgets_block_editor ) {
    if ( 123 === get_current_user_id() ) {
        return false;
    }
    return $use_widgets_block_editor;
}
add_filter( 'use_widgets_block_editor', 'example_use_widgets_block_editor' );