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

---

# __return_false(): false

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#description)
    - [See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#see-also)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#changelog)
 * [User Contributed Notes](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#user-contributed-notes)

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

Returns false.

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

Useful for returning false to filters easily.

### 󠀁[See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#see-also)󠁿

 * [__return_true()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_true/)

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

 false False.

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

    ```php
    function __return_false() { // phpcs:ignore WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName.FunctionDoubleUnderscore,PHPCompatibility.FunctionNameRestrictions.ReservedFunctionNames.FunctionDoubleUnderscore
    	return false;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/functions.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/functions.php#L6974)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/functions.php#L6974-L6976)

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

| Version | Description | 
| [3.0.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/3.0.0/) | Introduced. |

## 󠀁[User Contributed Notes](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#user-contributed-notes)󠁿

 1.   [Skip to note 3 content](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#comment-content-1393)
 2.    [Codex](https://profiles.wordpress.org/codex/)  [  10 years ago  ](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/#comment-1393)
 3.  [You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note](https://login.wordpress.org?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%23comment-1393)
     Vote results for this note: 5[You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note](https://login.wordpress.org?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%23comment-1393)
 4.  **Example**
 5.      ```php
         // This will add a filter on `example_filter` that returns false 
         add_filter( 'example_filter', '__return_false' ); 
         ```
     
 6.   [Log in to add feedback](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%3Freplytocom%3D1393%23feedback-editor-1393)
 7.   [Skip to note 4 content](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/?output_format=md#comment-content-9)
 8.    [Kónståntîn český คำถาม 問題和答案 Поделитьс](https://profiles.wordpress.org/code2coffee/)
     [  12 years ago  ](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__return_false/#comment-9)
 9.  [You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note](https://login.wordpress.org?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%23comment-9)
     Vote results for this note: 4[You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note](https://login.wordpress.org?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%23comment-9)
 10. Used as a callback for a filter:
 11.     ```php
         // Disable admin toolbar on frontend
         add_filter( 'show_admin_bar', '__return_false' );
         ```
     
 12.  [Log in to add feedback](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Ffunctions%2F__return_false%2F%3Freplytocom%3D9%23feedback-editor-9)

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