Mastering WordPress: Remove Network Admin (Multisite)

Network admin in WordPress can be frustrating when you have to switch your WordPress blog or a website again and again when you have to add a theme or plugin. Not only that, you need a network admin to remove a theme or a plugin as well. Well, that was my recent encounter with a network admin. Having multisite clearly gave me a headache which I couldn’t bear for a long time. That is why I decided to completely delete a network admin, or you can say multisite, from my WordPress dashboard.

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I searched everywhere for a simple method to overcome the problem. It took me some days to understand how it works. After some tries, I was finally able to completely remove a network admin from my WordPress blog.

My main aim for writing this blog article is to help you remove a network admin or multisite from your WordPress website. Do not worry, it won’t take more than 5 minutes to complete the whole process.

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The following process can be a little tricky, so be sure to read this article to the very end. Also, if you face any problems, you can comment below without any hesitation.

Let’s move ahead.

How to Remove a Network Admin from the WordPress Blog or a Website

After a long gap, I finally came back to blogging. You know, before, there was no such thing as a network admin on my WordPress blog. But when I recently installed a WordPress blog, I was shocked to see the new panel called network admin.

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In network admin, you can add/remove a WordPress theme or a plugin. But when you log in to your user account, you won’t be able to find such an option. Only network admin has the power to do the process you are looking for.

This is why it is very frustrating to switch from network admin to your WordPress user account just to add or remove a theme/plugin. You don’t need to worry. Now I am here to solve your issue without any obstacles. And oh yeah, I repeat, it won’t take more than five minutes to complete the whole process. Isn’t it interesting?

Remove All the Themes and Plugins You Have Added From Network Admin

The first step to remove the network admin from WordPress is to remove all the themes and plugins you have added from your network admin. Why am I saying this? Because it can cause serious problems after the whole process is done.

The Site Kit by Google WordPress plugin stopped working for me when I forgot to do this step. To prevent additional problems in the future, make sure to either disable or remove all the themes and plugins you have added from your multisite (network admin).

To do this, log in to your network admin account. After that, go to Plugins and check all the plugins you have added from your network admin account. You can follow the same steps for WordPress themes as well.

Back Up Your WordPress Blog or Website

Do not forget to back up your website before diving into this process. This step is extremely important. If you miss anything during the process, you can always restore your website. So, do not forget to back up your website or blog completely.

Many hosting providers offer their own backup features. You can also back up using plugins. For me, I used the Backuply WordPress plugin to back up my entire WordPress blog before moving on to the next step.

Removing Multisite Markers From wp-config.php

Next, you need to remove the multisite markers from the wp-config.php file. If you don’t know where to find the multisite markers, log in to your network admin account. From there, go to Settings, then select Network Setup. In the first box, you will see something like this:

define('MULTISITE', true);  define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true);  define('SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL', true);  define('DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE', 'yoursite.com');  define('PATH_CURRENT_SITE', '/');  define('SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);  define('BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE', 1);  define('SUNRISE', 'on');

You need to remove the above code from your wp-config.php file. If you don’t know where to find the wp-config.php file, go to your file manager in your hosting account. Navigate to the public_html folder and locate the wp-config.php file. Click on Code Edit, remove the above code, and save the file.

Removing Multisite Rules From .htaccess

Just like the previous step, log in to your network admin account, go to Settings, and select Network Setup. There, in the second box, you will see something like this:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]

Look for this code in your .htaccess file and remove it. Once you’re done, save the file.

Remove Multisite Tables From the Database

Lastly, you need to remove the multisite tables from your database. To do this, go to phpMyAdmin by logging in to your cPanel account. Before removing the multisite tables, make sure to export them in case something goes wrong.

Find the following tables in your database:

• wp_blogs
• wp_blog_versions
• wp_registration_log
• wp_signups
• wp_site
• wp_sitemeta
• wp_sitecategories

Click on each of these tables one by one, select Check All, and hit Drop to delete them. Not all of these tables may contain data. If you don’t see any data inside these tables, leave them as they are.

Log In to Your Site (Remove Network Admin)

Finally, you can log in to your WordPress site or blog. You will see a clean WordPress environment without any network admin settings. After logging in, you can reactivate your previously deactivated themes and plugins.

By following these processes, you can cleanly remove the network admin from your WordPress account. As I mentioned, this process won’t take longer than 5 minutes, and you can do it yourself without hiring a developer.

Final Words On Removing Network Admin From WordPress

If you face any problems during the process of removing the network admin from your WordPress site or blog, feel free to drop a comment below. You can also reach out to me on LinkeDin or X. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. I’m always here to hear your queries and help you as soon as possible.

Till then, have a good day! Happy blogging.