WP_Query: exclude a category (and paginated archives)

WP_Query: Exclude a Category (and Paginated Archives)

If you want to display posts on your WordPress site but exclude one or more categories — including on paginated archive pages — the WP_Query class is your go-to solution. This tutorial shows you how to exclude categories properly, ensuring pagination works seamlessly without showing posts from unwanted categories.

When to Use This

• You want to customize your blog or archive pages to hide posts from specific categories.
• You need to exclude categories on paginated archive pages without breaking pagination.
• You want to create custom loops or queries that omit certain categories.

Quick Fix: Exclude Categories in WP_Query

1. Use the category__not_in parameter in WP_Query to exclude categories by ID.
2. Ensure pagination parameters are correctly passed to maintain paginated archives.
3. Add the code snippet to your theme’s functions.php or a custom plugin.
4. Test on archive and paginated pages to confirm excluded categories don’t appear.

Why This Happens

By default, WordPress queries include posts from all categories unless filtered. Using category__not_in tells WordPress to exclude posts assigned to specific category IDs. However, if pagination is not handled correctly, excluding categories can cause pagination to break or display unexpected results because the total post count changes.

Properly passing the current page number and using WP_Query with exclusion parameters ensures WordPress calculates pagination based on the filtered posts, maintaining correct page counts and navigation.

Step-by-Step: Exclude a Category with Pagination Support

1. Identify the category ID(s) you want to exclude. You can find this in the WordPress admin under Posts → Categories. Hover over a category name and note the ID from the URL (e.g., tag_ID=5).
2. Create a custom query using WP_Query with the category__not_in parameter and pagination support.

<?php
$paged = ( get_query_var('paged') ) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;

$args = array(
    'post_type'      => 'post',
    'posts_per_page' => 10,
    'paged'          => $paged,
    'category__not_in' => array(5), // Replace 5 with your category ID(s)
);

$custom_query = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $custom_query->have_posts() ) :
    while ( $custom_query->have_posts() ) : $custom_query->the_post();
        the_title('<h2>', '</h2>');
        the_excerpt();
    endwhile;

    // Pagination
    echo paginate_links( array(
        'total'   => $custom_query->max_num_pages,
        'current' => $paged,
    ) );

    wp_reset_postdata();
else :
    echo '<p>No posts found.</p>';
endif;
?>

Add via functions.php or Mini-Plugin

You can add the above code directly in a custom page template or inside a shortcode function for easier reuse. Here is an example shortcode you can add to your theme’s functions.php or a small plugin file:

<?php
function exclude_category_shortcode( $atts ) {
    $atts = shortcode_atts( array(
        'exclude' => '', // comma-separated category IDs
        'posts_per_page' => 5,
    ), $atts, 'exclude_category' );

    $exclude_ids = array_map( 'intval', explode( ',', $atts['exclude'] ) );
    $paged = ( get_query_var('paged') ) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;

    $args = array(
        'post_type'      => 'post',
        'posts_per_page' => intval( $atts['posts_per_page'] ),
        'paged'          => $paged,
        'category__not_in' => $exclude_ids,
    );

    $query = new WP_Query( $args );

    ob_start();

    if ( $query->have_posts() ) :
        while ( $query->have_posts() ) : $query->the_post();
            echo '<h2>' . get_the_title() . '</h2>';
            echo get_the_excerpt();
        endwhile;

        echo paginate_links( array(
            'total'   => $query->max_num_pages,
            'current' => $paged,
        ) );

        wp_reset_postdata();
    else :
        echo '<p>No posts found.</p>';
    endif;

    return ob_get_clean();
}
add_shortcode( 'exclude_category', 'exclude_category_shortcode' );
?>

Use the shortcode in posts or pages like this:

[exclude_category exclude="5,7" posts_per_page="10"]

Testing

1. Place the code in your theme or use the shortcode on a page.
2. Visit the page and verify posts from the excluded categories do not appear.
3. Navigate to paginated pages (e.g., /page/2/) and confirm pagination works and excluded categories remain hidden.
4. Check for any 404 errors or empty pages and adjust posts_per_page or category IDs if needed.

Variations

• Exclude multiple categories: Pass multiple IDs in the array, e.g., 'category__not_in' => array(5, 7, 9).
• Exclude by slug: Use tax_query instead of category__not_in for more complex queries.
• Exclude categories on main blog page: Use the pre_get_posts action hook to modify the main query.

Works on

Developer Snippets Tags:Category, Loop, WP_Query

Environment	Notes
Apache	Fully compatible; standard WordPress setup.
Nginx	Works as expected; ensure permalinks are configured correctly.
LiteSpeed	Compatible; no special configuration needed.