{"id":65227,"date":"2022-10-03T12:14:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T12:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/tutorials\/?p=65227"},"modified":"2025-04-27T19:36:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T19:36:24","slug":"wordpress-menu-icons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/in\/tutorials\/wordpress-menu-icons","title":{"rendered":"WordPress Menu Icons: 2 Methods on Adding Icons to Menu for Easy Navigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the advantages of having a WordPress website is that you’re free to customize it as needed. That includes, but isn’t limited to, improving your navigation menus’ appearance with image icons.<\/p>

Adding icons to the WordPress navigation menu can make it look more appealing, accessible, and easily recognizable. Menu icons also help communicate your menu structure to an international audience.<\/p>

There are two ways to add icons to your WordPress website ‒ coding them manually or using a menu icon plugin. The first method offers flexibility in achieving your ideal design but requires CSS knowledge. If you’re not confident in your coding skills, we recommend using the second method.<\/p>

Keep reading to understand how each method works to choose the best one for your needs.<\/p>

Download all in one WordPress cheat sheet<\/a><\/p>

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Method 1. Add Menu Icons Using CSS<\/h2>

This method involves adding an icon type from a library to your WordPress website using custom CSS<\/a>. Various icon types are available to use, meaning you don’t have to design them from scratch, such as Dashicons<\/a><\/strong>, Elusive Icons<\/strong>, Foundation Icons<\/strong>, and Font Awesome<\/strong>.<\/p>

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the Font Awesome icon library. Here’s how to add WordPress menu icons using CSS<\/a>:<\/p>

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  1. Go to the Font Awesome homepage<\/a> and select Start for Free<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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    \"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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    1. Enter your email to get the free Kit code, which lets you retrieve Font Awesome icons from their library. Here’s what the library’s Kit code should look like:<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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      \"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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      1. Now that you have the library’s code, the next step is to obtain the CSS class of Font Awesome icons you want to use. Go to Font Awesome’s search page<\/a> and save the ones that fit your needs. For this example, we’ll use the “house<\/strong>” icon for our homepage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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        \"Obtaining<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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        1. Access your WordPress admin dashboard and go to Appearance <\/strong>-> Theme File Editor<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Open the header.php<\/strong> file and add the Kit code above the <\/head><\/strong> line. Click Update File<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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          \"Placing<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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          1. Navigate to Appearance <\/strong>-> Menus<\/strong> and expand the menu item you want to customize. Add the CSS class<\/a> you obtained in the third step to the Navigational Label<\/strong> textbox within the Menu Structure<\/strong> section. Keep the current menu text if you want to display it next to the image icon.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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            \"Adding<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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            1. Repeat the third and sixth steps to add more icons to other menu items, then click on the Save Menu <\/strong>button.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. If the process is successful, your menu will look like this:<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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              \"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>

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              The steps to add WordPress menu icons vary depending on the icon types. For example, you can use the Dashicons library without editing the theme’s file because it’s the official WordPress admin font since version 3.8. Some libraries use CSS classes to implement image icons in WordPress menu items. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>

              Method 2. Add Menu Icons Using a Plugin<\/h2>

              Many plugins simplify the process of customizing your navigation menu with great menu icons. We recommend the following plugins:<\/p>