How to Change or Shorten Excerpt Length in WordPress (2026)

WordPress shows a 55-word excerpt of each post on your blog, category and archive pages by default. Too long, and archive pages repeat large chunks of your posts; too short, and readers do not know what a post is about. Here is how to change, shorten or lengthen the excerpt length in WordPress in 2026, for both classic and block themes.

Quick answer: In a block theme, select the Post Excerpt block in your archive template and change “Max number of words”. In a classic theme, add an excerpt_length filter to your child theme’s functions.php, for example returning 25 words. You can also write a custom excerpt for any post in the Excerpt box, and many themes, such as Kadence and Astra, have an excerpt length setting in the Customizer.

Why change the excerpt length?

• Shorter excerpts make archive pages cleaner and faster to scan.
• Archive pages repeating long chunks of posts can create near-duplicate content; see our notes on bad duplicate content.
• Card-style layouts with thumbnails look better with short, even excerpts.

Method 1: Block themes (Site Editor)

1. Go to Appearance > Editor > Templates and open Index, Archive or Category.
2. Select the Post Excerpt block inside the Query Loop.
3. Set Max number of words (added in WordPress 6.3) and change the “Read more” text if you like.
4. Save the template.

Method 2: Theme Customizer

Many popular themes include an option such as Customize > Blog / Archive > Excerpt length. Check your theme’s settings before adding code.

Method 3: Code for classic themes

Add this to your child theme’s functions.php or a code snippets plugin:

add_filter( 'excerpt_length', function () {
    return 25; // number of words
}, 999 );

Change the “[…]” at the end of excerpts with:

add_filter( 'excerpt_more', function () {
    return '…';
} );

Back up functions.php first. A typing mistake can break your site, so test on a staging copy or use a snippets plugin that catches errors.

Method 4: Write custom excerpts

In the post editor, open the Excerpt panel in the sidebar and write a one or two sentence summary. Custom excerpts are not cut by the length setting and often make better summaries than automatic ones.

Tips for better archive pages

• Pair short excerpts with featured images; see how to use post thumbnails in WordPress themes.
• Consider noindexing paginated archive pages that add little value. Here is how to noindex archive subpages.
• Keep excerpts consistent across the site for a tidy design.

FAQ

What is the default WordPress excerpt length?

55 words for automatic excerpts in classic themes.

Why does my excerpt length change not work?

Your theme may set its own length or use custom excerpts. Use a higher priority (999) on the filter, or change the theme setting.

Do excerpts affect SEO?

Only indirectly. Good excerpts help readers choose a post, and shorter ones reduce repeated text on archive pages.

How long are the excerpts on your blog? Tell us in the comments.