Dashboard Cleaner

Updated Jul 26, 2026

Dashboard Cleaner

Dashboard Cleaner helps simplify the WordPress Dashboard by removing widgets and panels that are unnecessary for your selected Admin UX Cleaner (AUC) Audience.

WordPress core, themes, and plugins can add widgets to the Dashboard. Over time, this can create a busy workspace containing information that clients or other users may not need.

Dashboard Cleaner lets you reduce that clutter while keeping useful dashboard information available.

Caption: Dashboard Cleaner lets you control which WordPress Dashboard widgets are visible to your selected audience.

How Dashboard Cleaner Works

AUC detects supported widgets registered on the WordPress Dashboard and makes them available in Dashboard Cleaner.

You can choose which widgets should be hidden for users who match your Audience configuration.

This may include widgets created by:

  • WordPress core.
  • Themes.
  • Plugins.
  • Other components that register standard WordPress Dashboard widgets.

Dashboard Cleaner changes the dashboard experience for the affected audience without modifying the underlying plugin, theme, or WordPress core files.

Hide Dashboard Widgets

Use Dashboard Cleaner to hide widgets that are unnecessary for your users.

Depending on the website, the WordPress Dashboard may contain widgets such as:

  • At a Glance
  • Activity
  • Quick Draft
  • Site Health Status
  • Plugin-specific widgets
  • SEO summaries
  • Analytics summaries
  • Form statistics
  • Marketing or promotional panels

Caption: Select unnecessary Dashboard widgets to hide for the affected audience.

You do not need to remove every widget.

Keep widgets that provide useful information or shortcuts for the people using the website.

Welcome Panel

WordPress may display a Welcome panel on the Dashboard with shortcuts and introductory information.

If the panel is unnecessary for your selected audience, Dashboard Cleaner can remove it from their Dashboard.

Caption: The WordPress Welcome panel can be removed when it is not useful to the selected audience.

This is particularly useful on established websites where users already know their normal workflow and no longer need introductory WordPress shortcuts.

Plugin Dashboard Widgets

Many WordPress plugins add their own Dashboard widgets.

For example, plugins may display:

  • Statistics.
  • Recent submissions.
  • SEO information.
  • Security information.
  • Setup reminders.
  • Product announcements.
  • Upgrade promotions.

Dashboard Cleaner can detect supported widgets registered through the standard WordPress Dashboard system.

Caption: Supported third-party plugin widgets can appear alongside WordPress core widgets in Dashboard Cleaner.

This makes it possible to keep useful plugin widgets while hiding those that are irrelevant to your users.

Widget Scanner

The widgets available on a WordPress website depend on the currently installed and active software.

AUC scans the Dashboard environment to identify supported widgets that can be managed by Dashboard Cleaner.

If you install or activate a plugin that adds a new Dashboard widget, review Dashboard Cleaner again to make sure the new widget is handled appropriately for your audience.

The same applies after significant plugin or theme updates.

Audience Rules Apply

Dashboard Cleaner follows your AUC Audience configuration.

This means you can provide different dashboard experiences without removing the widgets globally from WordPress.

For example:

Administrator
└── Full Dashboard

Client Editor
└── Simplified Dashboard

An administrator can continue seeing maintenance, analytics, or technical information while a client sees only the widgets relevant to their work.

See Audience for more information about targeting roles and individual users.

Dashboard Cleaner Does Not Delete Widget Data

Hiding a Dashboard widget does not delete the information behind it.

For example, hiding an analytics widget does not delete analytics data, and hiding a form statistics widget does not remove form submissions.

Dashboard Cleaner controls whether the supported widget is displayed to the affected audience.

The plugin or WordPress feature that owns the widget continues to manage its underlying data normally.

Third-Party Widget Compatibility

Most standard WordPress Dashboard widgets can be detected through the APIs WordPress provides for registering dashboard components.

However, third-party plugins can build their interfaces in different ways.

Some plugins may:

  • Render custom dashboard content outside the standard widget system.
  • Load content dynamically with JavaScript.
  • Create their own dashboard pages instead of WordPress Dashboard widgets.
  • Change how widgets are registered between plugin versions.

Because of this, Dashboard Cleaner cannot guarantee control over every custom element that appears in the WordPress admin area.

If a plugin creates its own admin page rather than a Dashboard widget, consider whether Menu Cleaner or Page Locks is more appropriate.

After Installing New Plugins

Installing or activating a new plugin may add additional Dashboard widgets.

After making significant changes to the website:

  1. Open the WordPress Dashboard and check for new widgets.
  2. Review Dashboard Cleaner.
  3. Decide whether the new widgets are useful to your selected audience.
  4. Update your configuration if necessary.
  5. Preview or test the affected user experience.

This is especially useful before handing an updated website back to a client.

Example: A Client Dashboard

Suppose a client's WordPress Dashboard contains:

At a Glance
Activity
Quick Draft
Site Health Status
SEO Overview
Analytics
Form Submissions
Plugin News
Upgrade Promotion

The client primarily edits content and reviews form submissions.

A simplified Dashboard might keep:

At a Glance
Activity
Form Submissions

while hiding the remaining widgets.

The administrator can still retain the complete Dashboard if their account is not part of the affected Audience.

This gives each user a workspace that better matches their responsibilities.

What Should You Keep?

A smaller Dashboard is not automatically a better Dashboard.

Before hiding a widget, consider whether it helps the user:

  • Understand the current state of the website.
  • Complete a frequent task.
  • Notice something that requires their attention.
  • Access information relevant to their responsibilities.

If a widget provides genuine value, keep it.

The purpose of Dashboard Cleaner is to remove unnecessary clutter, not to create an empty Dashboard.

Preview and Test

After configuring Dashboard Cleaner, use Preview to review the resulting experience for the selected role or user.

Caption: Preview the affected audience to verify that the simplified Dashboard still contains the information they need.

Check that:

  • Useful widgets remain available.
  • Unnecessary widgets are removed.
  • Important information is not accidentally hidden.
  • The Dashboard still provides a useful starting point after login.

For important client workflows, perform a final test using an appropriate WordPress user account.

Recommended Approach

When configuring Dashboard Cleaner:

  1. Configure your Audience first.
  2. Identify which Dashboard widgets are actually useful to those users.
  3. Hide unnecessary core and plugin widgets.
  4. Remove the Welcome panel when it no longer provides value.
  5. Preview the resulting Dashboard.
  6. Test important workflows.
  7. Review the configuration after installing new plugins or themes.

Avoid removing widgets simply to make the Dashboard look minimal.

A good Dashboard should be focused, not empty.

Limitations

Dashboard Cleaner manages supported WordPress Dashboard widgets and the Welcome panel.

It is not a general-purpose tool for redesigning the WordPress Dashboard, modifying plugin interfaces, or controlling arbitrary content throughout the admin area.

For other parts of the WordPress admin interface, use the appropriate AUC feature:

  • Menu Cleaner for admin navigation.
  • Notice Cleaner for supported admin notices.
  • Admin Bar Cleaner for toolbar items.
  • Page Locks for admin page access restrictions.

Next Step

Continue with Admin Bar Cleaner to simplify the WordPress admin toolbar for your selected audience.

You can also use Preview to review how Dashboard Cleaner works together with your other AUC configurations.