How to Change WordPress Default “Uncategorized” Category

Categories in WordPress are very helpful in organizing the different sections of a website, or different topics of a blog.

By default, WordPress assigns the “Uncategorized” category to a new post, which leaves a bad impression on a reader, and also doesn’t allow the writers to properly categorize and search content later on.

How to set a new default category in WordPress

1. Navigate to the “Posts” >”Categories” admin menu.
2. Add a new category you want to make default.
3. Select “Settings => Writing” from the left menu.
4. Change the “Default Post Category” to the new category and save.

How to rename the Uncategorized category in WordPress

If you have existing content that is currently categorized as “Uncategorized” and you want to change the name of the category rather than replacing it, you can follow these steps:

1. Click on the admin menu “Posts => Categories”.
2. Find the “Uncategorized” category in the list and click on the “Edit” link next to it.
3. In the “Name” field, enter the new name for the category and save.

All of the posts that were previously assigned to the “Uncategorized” category will now be assigned to the new category name you just set. Keep in mind that you cannot change the name of the default category, so if you want to change the default category, you will need to follow the steps in order to create a new default category as described above.