---
title: "Disabling main and secondary menus in Drupal 8"
description: "When working with Drupal 8, there are some menu categories that cannot be deleted, such as the Main and Secondary menus. These can, however, be disabled and thus not appear on your site if you so..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/drupal/disable-main-secondary-menus/
date: 2013-10-14
modified: 2021-08-16
author: "Scott Mitchell"
categories: ["Drupal"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Disabling main and secondary menus in Drupal 8

When working with Drupal 8, there are some menu categories that cannot be deleted, such as the *Main* and *Secondary* menus. These can, however, be disabled and thus not appear on your site if you so choose. Follow the instructions below to learn how to disable these menus in Drupal 8.

## How to disable main and secondary menus in Drupal 8

1. [Log into your Drupal 8 administrative dashboard](/support/edu/drupal/how-to-log-into-the-drupal-admin-dashboard/).
2. [![select menu option](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-menu.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-menu.png) Select **Menu** from the top menu bar.
3. [![select the Appearance option](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-appearance.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8__common-images_select-appearance.png) Next, click on **Appearance** from the secondary menu that appears.
4. [![select menu from structure list](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_1-click-settings-tab.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_1-click-settings-tab.png) You are now taken to the main *Appearance* screen. This is a list of avaialble themes. Look to the upper right corner of the screen and you will see a *Settings* tab. Click on the **Settings** tab to continue.
5. [![select menu from structure list](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_2-menu-checkboxes.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_2-menu-checkboxes.png) This brings you to the *Appearance* settings page. Note that the main page is *Global* settings, so adjusting settings here affects all themes. If you wish to adjust these settings for any individual themes, you will need to select them in the upper right corner.

Once you are in the correct place (global or specific theme) locate the *Toggle Display* settings. To the bottom of the section are checkboxes for both **Main Menu** and **Secondary Menu**. Uncheck the box next to the menu which you wish to disable (or check it to enable it). Once complete, click on the **Save Configuration** button to save the changes.

The before and after shots below demonstrate the disabling of the *Main Menu*.

| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| [![select menu from structure list](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_before.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_before.png) | [![select menu from structure list](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_after.png)](/support/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/edu_Drupal-8_104_disable-main-secondary_after.png) |

<

p class=”alert” style=”color:red”>Currently, it appears that once you toggle the main/secondary menus via the specific *Theme* settings, the *Global Settings* will no longer toggle the menus.