How to Disable WordPress Welcome Message and Full Screen Mode

Posted August 3, 2022

As of the addition of the block editor (Gutenberg) in WordPress–release version 5.0 (2018)–there has been a new Welcome Guide that pops up when editing posts. Additionally, the default when editing posts or pages is the new Full Screen Mode. Neither of these features may be desirable to those who have been using WordPress since before the introduction of the block editor, so below is a code snippet which will disable both.

As with any custom code addition, it is recommended to place the following snippet in a plugin file, preferably a custom plugin which won't be overridden on plugin update.

/**
 * Disable default full screen page editor and Welcome Guide
 */

if(is_admin()) {
	add_action( 'enqueue_block_editor_assets', 'disable_editor_defaults' );

	function boldelite_disable_editor_defaults() {
		$script1 = "jQuery( window ).load(function() { const isFullscreenMode = wp.data.select( 'core/edit-post' ).isFeatureActive( 'fullscreenMode' ); if ( isFullscreenMode ) { wp.data.dispatch( 'core/edit-post' ).toggleFeature( 'fullscreenMode' ); } });";
		wp_add_inline_script( 'wp-blocks', $script1 );

		$script2 = "jQuery( window ).load(function() { const isWelcomeGuide = wp.data.select( 'core/edit-post' ).isFeatureActive( 'welcomeGuide' ); if ( isWelcomeGuide ) { wp.data.dispatch( 'core/edit-post' ).toggleFeature( 'welcomeGuide' ); } });";
		wp_add_inline_script( 'wp-edit-post', $script2 );
	}
}