The difference depends largely on your theme: classic themes provide widget areas, while block themes use the Site Editor. On a classic theme, the two systems can work side by side—WordPress 5.8 added blocks to widget areas without removing support for older widgets.
What is the difference between WordPress widgets and blocks?
A widget is a component registered for placement in a theme-defined area, such as a sidebar or footer. The classic Widgets screen lets you add, configure, move, and remove these components; the Customizer can provide a live preview. A block is a modular unit edited in the block editor. Blocks can build page content and, on classic themes, can also be placed in widget areas.
WordPress 5.8, released July 20, 2021, introduced the block-based Widgets Editor for classic themes. It brought blocks into Appearance → Widgets and Appearance → Customize → Widgets, so an area can contain blocks alongside older widgets. The WordPress.org documentation describes adding blocks next to current widgets.
Widgets vs. blocks at a glance
| Area | Classic widgets | Blocks in widget areas |
|---|---|---|
| Where you edit | Appearance → Widgets, or the Customizer when available; the exact screen depends on the theme and editor configuration. | Appearance → Widgets or Appearance → Customize → Widgets on a classic theme using the block-based Widgets Editor. |
| What you place | Widgets registered for theme-defined areas, including compatible third-party widgets. | Blocks, legacy widgets through the Legacy Widget block, and compatible widgets that a plugin author has made transformable. |
| How they fit the theme | Assigned to widget areas the theme provides. | Placed within those same widget areas; they do not create widget areas themselves. |
| Compatibility | Works with the classic widget system and themes that expose widget areas. | Retains legacy compatibility through the Legacy Widget block; saved block widgets can also remain visible in the classic Widgets screen if the block-based editor is disabled. |
| Moving to a native block | Requires the widget author to provide a supported block transform; conversion is not universal. | Already a block. A legacy widget can be transformed only when its author supports that migration. |
Are WordPress widgets obsolete?
No. WordPress has not universally deprecated widgets. On classic themes, they remain supported, and existing or plugin-provided widgets can be edited in the block-based Widgets Editor using the Legacy Widget block. WordPress Core documentation describes this block as the way to edit legacy and third-party widgets in that editor; the Developer Resources overview explains its compatibility role.
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What has changed is the editing model. Blocks are the native building units of the block editor, while widgets remain a supported compatibility and placement system for theme areas. A widget may still be the practical choice when a plugin depends on its original controls or does not offer an equivalent block.
Can I use blocks in my sidebar?
Yes, if you use a classic theme with widget areas and the block-based Widgets Editor is enabled. Open Appearance → Widgets, select the sidebar, and add blocks as you would in the block editor. You can place blocks and legacy widgets together in the same area.
The theme determines which areas exist. A theme may offer a sidebar, footer areas, or other widget areas; WordPress does not guarantee that every theme has the same locations.
What happens to widgets if you switch to a block theme?
Block themes, including Twenty Twenty-Five, use the Site Editor rather than the traditional Widgets screen. The Appearance → Widgets menu is generally removed because the Site Editor provides the theme-editing workflow, including templates, template parts, and patterns. Do not assume that a widget area from a classic theme will appear as a matching area in a block theme: the theme structures are different.
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If a plugin’s widget is still needed, check whether the plugin offers a block or a supported migration path for the block theme. The Legacy Widget block is specifically the compatibility mechanism for widget areas in the block-based Widgets Editor; it should not be treated as a universal way to migrate every classic-theme widget into a block theme.
How do you convert a widget to a block?
There is no universal automatic conversion. The widget author must make the widget instance available through the REST API and the destination block must define a transform from core/legacy-widget. When that support exists, the editor can offer a conversion to the native block. A plugin may also hide its widget from the Legacy Widget block once it provides a replacement, avoiding duplicate choices.
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- Check the plugin’s documentation or editor interface for a block replacement or conversion option.
- If the widget appears in the Legacy Widget block, select it and review its controls and preview.
- Use a transform only if the plugin offers one, then verify the resulting block’s settings and front-end output.
If no transform is offered, keep using the widget through the compatibility route where available, or ask the plugin author whether block support is planned. The WordPress Widgets Block Editor overview describes the developer-side migration mechanism.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do you get the old WordPress Widgets screen back?
For a classic theme, the documented fallback is the Classic Widgets plugin, which restores the classic widgets interface. Developers can instead remove block-editor support for widgets in a theme with remove_theme_support( 'widgets-block-editor' ), or use the use_widgets_block_editor filter. These controls affect the widget editor; they do not turn a block theme into a classic theme or recreate widget areas that the theme does not provide.
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Which should you use?
- Use native blocks when your classic theme’s widget areas and the relevant plugin support them, especially when you need to compose text, images, or other block content in one area.
- Keep a legacy widget when a plugin’s existing widget controls are required and there is no supported block transform.
- Use the Site Editor when working with a block theme; manage the theme’s layout through its templates and template parts rather than expecting the classic Widgets screen.
- Restore the classic editor when a site workflow or plugin depends on the old screen and you are using a classic theme.
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