How to change excerpt length in WordPress using PHP

WordPress limits excerpts lengths to 55 words. This article shows you how to change the excerpts word count limit using a PHP function.

Changing excerpt length in WordPress

Follow the steps below to edit your Theme setting file to change the excerpt length in WordPress:

1. Log in to your WordPress site with an administrator account.
2. On the Dashboard in the left sidebar, click Appearance, and then click Theme Editor:

   
    

3. On the Theme Editor , select the Theme you want to edit from the dropdown:
   

   

4. The files for this selected theme are listed on the right column under Theme Files. Click on the file named “functions.php”:
   

   

5. Insert the following code to the end of functions.php file and click Update File button to save the changes:
   

   function new_excerpt_length($length) {
   
   return 100;
   
   }
   
   add_filter('excerpt_length', 'new_excerpt_length');
   

6.  The function changes the excerpt length to 100.