Title: WP_Query::is_category
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_Query::is_category( int|string|int[]|string[] $category ): bool

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Determines whether the query is for an existing category archive page.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

If the $category parameter is specified, this function will additionally check if
the query is for one of the categories specified.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$category`int|string|int[]|string[]optional

Category ID, name, slug, or array of such to check against. Default empty.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 bool Whether the query is for an existing category archive page.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public function is_category( $category = '' ) {
    	if ( ! $this->is_category ) {
    		return false;
    	}

    	if ( empty( $category ) ) {
    		return true;
    	}

    	$cat_obj = $this->get_queried_object();
    	if ( ! $cat_obj ) {
    		return false;
    	}

    	$category = array_map( 'strval', (array) $category );

    	if ( in_array( (string) $cat_obj->term_id, $category, true ) ) {
    		return true;
    	} elseif ( in_array( $cat_obj->name, $category, true ) ) {
    		return true;
    	} elseif ( in_array( $cat_obj->slug, $category, true ) ) {
    		return true;
    	}

    	return false;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php#L4274)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php#L4274-L4299)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [WP_Query::get_queried_object()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/get_queried_object/)`wp-includes/class-wp-query.php` |

Retrieves the currently queried object.

  |

| Used by | Description | 
| [is_category()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_category/)`wp-includes/query.php` |

Determines whether the query is for an existing category archive page.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/is_category/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [3.1.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/3.1.0/) | Introduced. |

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