Title: wp_nav_menu_args
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: April 28, 2025

---

# apply_filters( ‘wp_nav_menu_args’, array $args )

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#description)
    - [See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#see-also)
 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [More Information](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#more-information)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#changelog)
 * [User Contributed Notes](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#user-contributed-notes)

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

Filters the arguments used to display a navigation menu.

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

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

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

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

 `$args`array

Array of [wp_nav_menu()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_nav_menu/)
arguments.

More Arguments from wp_nav_menu( … $args )

Array of nav menu arguments.

 * `menu` int|string|[WP_Term](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term/)
 * Desired menu. Accepts a menu ID, slug, name, or object.
 * `menu_class` string
 * CSS class to use for the ul element which forms the menu.
    Default `'menu'`.
 * `menu_id` string
 * The ID that is applied to the ul element which forms the menu.
    Default is the
   menu slug, incremented.
 * `container` string
 * Whether to wrap the ul, and what to wrap it with.
    Default `'div'`.
 * `container_class` string
 * Class that is applied to the container.
    Default ‘menu-{menu slug}-container’.
 * `container_id` string
 * The ID that is applied to the container.
 * `container_aria_label` string
 * The aria-label attribute that is applied to the container when it’s a nav element.
 * `fallback_cb` callable|false
 * If the menu doesn’t exist, a callback function will fire.
    Default is `'wp_page_menu'`.
   Set to false for no fallback.
 * `before` string
 * Text before the link markup.
 * `after` string
 * Text after the link markup.
 * `link_before` string
 * Text before the link text.
 * `link_after` string
 * Text after the link text.
 * `echo` bool
 * Whether to echo the menu or return it. Default true.
 * `depth` int
 * How many levels of the hierarchy are to be included.
    0 means all. Default 0.
   Default 0.
 * `walker` object
 * Instance of a custom walker class.
 * `theme_location` string
 * Theme location to be used. Must be registered with [register_nav_menu()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/register_nav_menu/)
   in order to be selectable by the user.
 * `items_wrap` string
 * How the list items should be wrapped. Uses printf() format with numbered placeholders.
   Default is a ul with an id and class.
 * `item_spacing` string
 * Whether to preserve whitespace within the menu’s HTML.
    Accepts `'preserve'` 
   or `'discard'`. Default `'preserve'`.

## 󠀁[More Information](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#more-information)󠁿

The “wp_nav_menu_args” filter is applied to the arguments of the [wp_nav_menu()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_nav_menu/)
function **before** they are processed.

This filter can be used in **functions.php** of a [child theme](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/)
to add/remove/modify the arguments of a menu defined in the parent theme.

Also, plugins can use this filter to change menus by adding classes/IDs or using
a custom walker object.

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

    ```php
    $args = apply_filters( 'wp_nav_menu_args', $args );
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/nav-menu-template.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/nav-menu-template.php#L102)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/nav-menu-template.php#L102-L102)

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

| Used by | Description | 
| [wp_nav_menu()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_nav_menu/)`wp-includes/nav-menu-template.php` |

Displays a navigation menu.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?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/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#user-contributed-notes)󠁿

 1.   [Skip to note 3 content](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#comment-content-3509)
 2.    [megamenu](https://profiles.wordpress.org/megamenu/)  [  6 years ago  ](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/#comment-3509)
 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%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%23comment-3509)
     Vote results for this note: 1[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%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%23comment-3509)
 4.  The following code will populate the “theme_location” option if it was not specified(
     or was left empty) in the initial call to “wp_nav_menu”.
 5.      ```php
         function wp_nav_menu_populate_missing_theme_location( $args ) {
         	if ( ! isset( $args['theme_location'] ) || $args['theme_location'] == "" ) {
         		$args['theme_location'] = 'main_navigation';
         	}
     
         	return $args;
         }
         add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'wp_nav_menu_populate_missing_theme_location' );
         ```
     
 6.   [Log in to add feedback](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%3Freplytocom%3D3509%23feedback-editor-3509)
 7.   [Skip to note 4 content](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/?output_format=md#comment-content-4577)
 8.    [Steven Lin](https://profiles.wordpress.org/stevenlinx/)  [  5 years ago  ](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_nav_menu_args/#comment-4577)
 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%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%23comment-4577)
     Vote results for this note: 0[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%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%23comment-4577)
 10. Example migrated from Codex:
 11. The [Twenty Thirteen theme](https://wordpress.org/themes/twentythirteen/) defines
     the following menu in its **header.php** file.
 12.     ```php
         <?php wp_nav_menu( array( 'theme_location' => 'primary', 'menu_class' => 'nav-menu' ) ); ?>
         ```
     
 13. The following example code will add an ID to the container and change the “depth”
     to -1 so that links at all levels are displayed in a single, flat list.
 14.     ```php
         add_filter( 'wp_nav_menu_args', 'modify_nav_menu_args' );
     
         function modify_nav_menu_args( $args )
         {
         	if( 'primary' == $args['theme_location'] )
         	{
         		$args['depth'] = -1;
         		$args['container_id'] = 'my_primary_menu';
         	}
     
         	return $args;
         }
         ```
     
 15. The container ID will only show up if you [set a menu](https://wordpress.org/support/article/appearance-menus-screen/)
     for this theme location.
 16.  [Log in to add feedback](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Fhooks%2Fwp_nav_menu_args%2F%3Freplytocom%3D4577%23feedback-editor-4577)

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