WordPress Disable Author Archives

WordPress Disable Author Archives Without Plugin

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WordPress disable author archives is a smart SEO tweak. If your site has only one author, you don’t need author archive pages — here’s how to disable them with no plugin needed!

Add this to your child theme’s functions.php file:


function qdt_disable_author_archives() {
  if ( is_author() ) {
    global $wp_query;
    $wp_query->set_404();
    status_header(404);
    nocache_headers();
    include( get_query_template( ‘404’ ) );
    exit;
  }
}
add_action( ‘template_redirect’, ‘qdt_disable_author_archives’ );

How It Works

This WordPress disable author archives snippet checks if someone tries to access an author page. If so, it triggers a 404 instead of showing the archive.

Why WordPress Disable Author Archives?

Single author blogs don’t need author archives — they just create duplicate content. Disabling them keeps your site clean and helps SEO.

Common Mistake

Make sure your theme doesn’t link to author pages from post meta or author bio sections if you disable them.

Pro Tip

Combine this with proper canonical tags to control duplicate content fully.

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