Editor Hooks Reference

Last updated: February 12, 2026

Filters and actions for customizing the WordPress Classic Editor (TinyMCE and Quicktags).

Filters

wp_editor_settings

Filter the wp_editor() settings before parsing.

apply_filters( 'wp_editor_settings', array $settings, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$settings`	array	Array of editor arguments
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier (e.g., ‘content’, ‘classic-block’)

Since: 4.0.0

Example:

add_filter( 'wp_editor_settings', function( $settings, $editor_id ) {
    if ( 'content' === $editor_id ) {
        $settings['textarea_rows'] = 25;
        $settings['media_buttons'] = true;
    }
    return $settings;
}, 10, 2 );

wp_default_editor

Filter which editor should be displayed by default.

apply_filters( 'wp_default_editor', string $editor )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$editor`	string	The default editor: `'tinymce'`, `'html'`, or `'test'`

Since: 2.5.0

Example:

// Force Code editor for all users
add_filter( 'wp_default_editor', function() {
    return 'html';
} );

user_can_richedit

Filter whether the user can access the visual editor.

apply_filters( 'user_can_richedit', bool $can_richedit )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$can_richedit`	bool	Whether the user can access the visual editor

Since: 2.1.0

Example:

// Disable visual editor for subscribers
add_filter( 'user_can_richedit', function( $can ) {
    if ( current_user_can( 'subscriber' ) ) {
        return false;
    }
    return $can;
} );

the_editor

Filter the HTML markup output that displays the editor.

apply_filters( 'the_editor', string $output )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$output`	string	Editor’s HTML markup (contains `%s` placeholder for content)

Since: 2.1.0

Example:

add_filter( 'the_editor', function( $output ) {
    // Add a wrapper div
    return '<div class="my-editor-wrapper">' . $output . '</div>';
} );

the_editor_content

Filter the default editor content.

apply_filters( 'the_editor_content', string $content, string $default_editor )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$content`	string	The editor content
`$default_editor`	string	The default editor: `'html'` or `'tinymce'`

Since: 2.1.0

Example:

add_filter( 'the_editor_content', function( $content, $editor ) {
    if ( 'tinymce' === $editor && empty( $content ) ) {
        return '<p>Start writing here...</p>';
    }
    return $content;
}, 10, 2 );

format_for_editor

Filter text after it’s formatted for the editor.

apply_filters( 'format_for_editor', string $text, string $default_editor )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$text`	string	The formatted text
`$default_editor`	string	The default editor: `'html'` or `'tinymce'`

Since: 4.3.0

quicktags_settings

Filter the Quicktags settings.

apply_filters( 'quicktags_settings', array $settings, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$settings`	array	Quicktags settings (`id`, `buttons`)
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 3.3.0

Example:

add_filter( 'quicktags_settings', function( $settings, $editor_id ) {
    // Add spell button, remove close button
    $settings['buttons'] = 'strong,em,link,block,del,ins,img,ul,ol,li,code,spell';
    return $settings;
}, 10, 2 );

mce_css

Filter the comma-delimited list of stylesheets to load in TinyMCE.

apply_filters( 'mce_css', string $stylesheets )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$stylesheets`	string	Comma-delimited list of stylesheet URLs

Since: 2.1.0

Example:

add_filter( 'mce_css', function( $mce_css ) {
    if ( ! empty( $mce_css ) ) {
        $mce_css .= ',';
    }
    $mce_css .= plugins_url( 'editor-style.css', __FILE__ );
    return $mce_css;
} );

editor_stylesheets

Filter the array of URLs of stylesheets applied to the editor.

apply_filters( 'editor_stylesheets', array $stylesheets )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$stylesheets`	array	Array of stylesheet URLs

Since: 4.3.0

tiny_mce_plugins

Filter the list of default TinyMCE plugins.

apply_filters( 'tiny_mce_plugins', array $plugins, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$plugins`	array	Array of default TinyMCE plugins
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 3.3.0
Modified: 5.3.0 – Added $editor_id parameter

Default Plugins:

charmap, colorpicker, hr, lists, media, paste, tabfocus, textcolor, fullscreen, wordpress, wpautoresize, wpeditimage, wpemoji, wpgallery, wplink, wpdialogs, wptextpattern, wpview

Example:

add_filter( 'tiny_mce_plugins', function( $plugins ) {
    // Remove paste plugin
    $key = array_search( 'paste', $plugins );
    if ( false !== $key ) {
        unset( $plugins[ $key ] );
    }
    return $plugins;
} );

teeny_mce_plugins

Filter the list of teenyMCE plugins.

apply_filters( 'teeny_mce_plugins', array $plugins, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$plugins`	array	Array of teenyMCE plugins
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.7.0
Modified: 3.3.0 – Added $editor_id parameter

Default Teeny Plugins:

colorpicker, lists, fullscreen, image, wordpress, wpeditimage, wplink

mce_external_plugins

Filter the list of TinyMCE external plugins.

apply_filters( 'mce_external_plugins', array $external_plugins, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$external_plugins`	array	Associative array: `'plugin_name' => 'url'`
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.5.0
Modified: 5.3.0 – Added $editor_id parameter

Example:

add_filter( 'mce_external_plugins', function( $plugins ) {
    $plugins['myplugin'] = plugins_url( 'js/mce-plugin.js', __FILE__ );
    return $plugins;
} );

// Also add the button
add_filter( 'mce_buttons', function( $buttons ) {
    $buttons[] = 'myplugin_button';
    return $buttons;
} );

mce_external_languages

Filter translations for external TinyMCE plugins.

apply_filters( 'mce_external_languages', array $translations, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$translations`	array	Associative array: `'plugin_name' => 'path/to/lang.php'`
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.5.0
Modified: 5.3.0 – Added $editor_id parameter

mce_buttons

Filter the first-row list of TinyMCE buttons (Visual tab).

apply_filters( 'mce_buttons', array $buttons, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$buttons`	array	First-row list of buttons
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.0.0
Modified: 3.3.0 – Added $editor_id parameter

Default First Row:

formatselect, bold, italic, bullist, numlist, blockquote, alignleft, aligncenter, alignright, link, wp_more, spellchecker, fullscreen, wp_adv

Example:

add_filter( 'mce_buttons', function( $buttons ) {
    // Add table button
    array_push( $buttons, 'table' );
    return $buttons;
} );

mce_buttons_2

Filter the second-row list of TinyMCE buttons.

apply_filters( 'mce_buttons_2', array $buttons, string $editor_id )

Since: 2.0.0

Default Second Row:

strikethrough, hr, forecolor, pastetext, removeformat, charmap, outdent, indent, undo, redo, wp_help

mce_buttons_3

Filter the third-row list of TinyMCE buttons.

apply_filters( 'mce_buttons_3', array $buttons, string $editor_id )

Since: 2.0.0

Default: Empty array

mce_buttons_4

Filter the fourth-row list of TinyMCE buttons.

apply_filters( 'mce_buttons_4', array $buttons, string $editor_id )

Since: 2.5.0

Default: Empty array

teeny_mce_buttons

Filter the list of teenyMCE buttons.

apply_filters( 'teeny_mce_buttons', array $buttons, string $editor_id )

Since: 2.7.0

Default Teeny Buttons:

bold, italic, underline, blockquote, strikethrough, bullist, numlist, alignleft, aligncenter, alignright, undo, redo, link, fullscreen

tiny_mce_before_init

Filter the TinyMCE config before initialization.

apply_filters( 'tiny_mce_before_init', array $mce_init, string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$mce_init`	array	TinyMCE configuration array
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.5.0

Example:

add_filter( 'tiny_mce_before_init', function( $init ) {
    // Add custom styles to the Format dropdown
    $init['style_formats'] = json_encode( array(
        array(
            'title'   => 'Lead Paragraph',
            'block'   => 'p',
            'classes' => 'lead',
        ),
        array(
            'title'  => 'Highlight',
            'inline' => 'span',
            'classes' => 'highlight',
        ),
    ) );
    
    // Enable style_formats in toolbar
    $init['toolbar1'] = str_replace( 'formatselect', 'styleselect', $init['toolbar1'] );
    
    return $init;
} );

teeny_mce_before_init

Filter the teenyMCE config before initialization.

apply_filters( 'teeny_mce_before_init', array $mce_init, string $editor_id )

Since: 2.7.0

wp_mce_translation

Filter translated strings prepared for TinyMCE.

apply_filters( 'wp_mce_translation', array $strings, string $mce_locale )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$strings`	array	Key/value pairs of strings
`$mce_locale`	string	The locale code

Since: 3.9.0

wp_link_query_args

Filter the link query arguments.

apply_filters( 'wp_link_query_args', array $query )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$query`	array	WP_Query arguments

Since: 3.7.0

Example:

add_filter( 'wp_link_query_args', function( $query ) {
    // Only show pages in link search
    $query['post_type'] = 'page';
    return $query;
} );

wp_link_query

Filter the link query results.

apply_filters( 'wp_link_query', array $results, array $query )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$results`	array	Array of result arrays
`$query`	array	WP_Query arguments used

Since: 3.7.0

Example:

add_filter( 'wp_link_query', function( $results, $query ) {
    // Add custom entries to link search
    $results[] = array(
        'ID'        => 0,
        'title'     => 'External: Google',
        'permalink' => 'https://google.com',
        'info'      => 'External Link',
    );
    return $results;
}, 10, 2 );

disable_captions

Filter to disable image captions.

apply_filters( 'disable_captions', string $disabled )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$disabled`	string	Empty string by default, return truthy to disable

Example:

add_filter( 'disable_captions', '__return_true' );

Actions

media_buttons

Fires after the default media button(s) are displayed.

do_action( 'media_buttons', string $editor_id )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$editor_id`	string	Unique editor identifier

Since: 2.5.0

Example:

add_action( 'media_buttons', function( $editor_id ) {
    if ( 'content' === $editor_id ) {
        echo '<button type="button" class="button insert-shortcode">Insert Shortcode</button>';
    }
} );

wp_enqueue_editor

Fires when scripts and styles are enqueued for the editor.

do_action( 'wp_enqueue_editor', array $to_load )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$to_load`	array	`['tinymce' => bool, 'quicktags' => bool]`

Since: 3.9.0

Example:

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_editor', function( $to_load ) {
    if ( $to_load['tinymce'] ) {
        wp_enqueue_script( 'my-tinymce-plugin' );
    }
} );

before_wp_tiny_mce

Fires immediately before the TinyMCE settings are printed.

do_action( 'before_wp_tiny_mce', array $mce_settings )

Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`$mce_settings`	array	TinyMCE settings array

Since: 3.2.0

wp_tiny_mce_init

Fires after tinymce.js is loaded, but before any TinyMCE editor instances are created.

do_action( 'wp_tiny_mce_init', array $mce_settings )

Since: 3.9.0

after_wp_tiny_mce

Fires after any core TinyMCE editor instances are created.

do_action( 'after_wp_tiny_mce', array $mce_settings )

Since: 3.2.0

print_default_editor_scripts

Fires when editor scripts are loaded for later initialization.

do_action( 'print_default_editor_scripts' )

Since: 4.8.0

Deprecated Filters

htmledit_pre

Deprecated: 4.3.0
Use instead: format_for_editor

richedit_pre

Deprecated: 4.3.0
Use instead: format_for_editor

Editor Hooks Reference

Filters

wp_editor_settings

wp_default_editor

user_can_richedit

the_editor

the_editor_content

format_for_editor

quicktags_settings

mce_css

editor_stylesheets

tiny_mce_plugins

teeny_mce_plugins

mce_external_plugins

mce_external_languages

mce_buttons

mce_buttons_2

mce_buttons_3

mce_buttons_4

teeny_mce_buttons

tiny_mce_before_init

teeny_mce_before_init

wp_mce_translation

wp_link_query_args

wp_link_query

disable_captions

Actions

media_buttons

wp_enqueue_editor

before_wp_tiny_mce

wp_tiny_mce_init

after_wp_tiny_mce

print_default_editor_scripts

Deprecated Filters

htmledit_pre

richedit_pre

More in Editor

_WP_Editors Class Reference

WordPress Classic Editor API Overview

Editor Functions Reference