Best appearance plugins for WordPress
The most popular appearance plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Editor Menu and Widget Access leads with 7K+ active installs, ahead of Faster Appearance (200+) and Improved Simpler CSS (100+). All 26 plugins tagged “appearance” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 appearance plugins
- 1.
Editor Menu and Widget AccessThe most installed appearance plugin, with 7K+ active installs. Rated 4.8 from 24 reviews, last updated 5 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.7.21.
- 2.
Faster Appearance200+ active installs. Rated 4.9 from 29 reviews, last updated 13 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1.
- 3.
Improved Simpler CSS100+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 13 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1.
- 4.
Styles100+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.4.34.
- 5.
Global Javascript100+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 13 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.5.2.
- 6.
Editor Theme Options100+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 12 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.9.40.
- 7.
Scrollbar Designer90+ active installs. Rated 4.6 from 8 reviews, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.3.34.
- 8.
Customizer Hide Menu80+ active installs. No reviews yet, updated 2 months ago.
- 9.
Restore Customizer Menu for FSE Themes40+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.8.12.
- 10.
Add Background-Size to Customizer40+ active installs. Only 1 review so far, last updated 11 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.2.39.
All 26 plugins tagged “appearance”
Editor Menu and Widget Access
Down in the last 7 days:14#2,649by GuyPrimavera5 years ago
Allow and control Editor and Shop Manager access to the menus, widgets and appearance menu, plus other menus and adminbar items.
- Installs
- 7K+
- Rating
- 4.8(24)
- Downloads
- 22/day
Faster Appearance
Up in the last 7 days:40#11,577by sevenspark13 years ago
Watch the video
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 4.9(29)
- Downloads
- 4/day
Improved Simpler CSS
Up in the last 7 days:120#13,315by ctltwp13 years ago
Add the ability to add css to your existing style sheet.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Styles
Down in the last 7 days:88#13,706by dimitris3310 years ago
This plugin adds suport for the TwentyFifteen1 theme to the Styles plugin.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 11/day
Global Javascript
Up in the last 7 days:1#13,913by ctltwp13 years ago
A simple Javascript writing/editing tool using ACE editor and the Minify library
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 3.5(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Editor Theme Options
Down in the last 7 days:85#15,545by Cliff Seal12 years ago
Allow editors to access theme options in the Appearance menu.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Scrollbar Designer
Down in the last 7 days:237#17,117by Zia Imtiaz11 years ago
Get rid of boring scrollbar and make your own Custom Scrollbar for your website.
- Installs
- 90+
- Rating
- 4.6(8)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Customizer Hide Menu
Down in the last 7 days:70#17,813by Pieter Bos2 months ago
Removes the Navigation Menu paqnel from the Customizer.
- Installs
- 80+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Restore Customizer Menu for FSE Themes
Down in the last 7 days:80#21,594by apuroid1 year ago
Restores the "Customize" menu item under Appearance for Full Site Editing (FSE) themes, providing quick access to the classic WordPress Customizer.
- Installs
- 40+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Add Background-Size to Customizer
Down in the last 7 days:39#21,750by cmborchert11 years ago
Allows you to control the background-size of your main background image from the comfort of the customizer, using predetermined values or custom CSS.
- Installs
- 40+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Simple customize scrollbar
Down in the last 7 days:337#24,136by Tomek6 years ago
Customize scrollbar without JavaScript library
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Add Manage Patterns Menu
Down in the last 7 days:72#24,859by Wild Operation5 months ago
Adds a 'Manage Patterns' child menu item under the WordPress 'Appearance' menu.
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
REST API Extender
Down in the last 7 days:60#31,508by SEO Neo2 years ago
The REST API Extender is a WordPress plugin that extends the functionality of the WordPress REST API.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
hiWeb Theme Switcher
Down in the last 7 days:617#32,285by Den Media10 years ago
Changing the theme on selected pages and posts
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Text Truncator
#32,812by miunosoft11 years ago
Truncates text of specified HTML elements by number of lines.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Blocks Editor Interface Customizer
Up in the last 7 days:1,450#36,499by THE BELOV2 years ago
A WordPress plugin to customize the Gutenberg block editor interface, allowing adjustments to editor width, sidebar size, and enabling Dark Mode for i …
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 1/day
DK White Label
Down in the last 7 days:4,663#37,414by dinamiko2 years ago
Customize WordPress Dashboard Branding
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Add Customizer
Up in the last 7 days:2,034#41,609by Kris C4 years ago
Adds the customizer link in the admin appearance menu.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Simple Upload Widget
#47,695by Nick Smith12 years ago
Widget that allows for files to be uploaded. Returns the uploaded media as an image
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Light & Dark Mode Switcher
Up in the last 7 days:13,485#51,100by Senthilprabu Ponnusamy1 year ago
Light & Dark Mode Switcher is a user-friendly WordPress plugin that lets visitors easily toggle between light and dark themes on your website.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
GrowthLife Design Toolkit
Down in the last 7 days:1,396#62,459by growthlife2 months ago
A no-code design toolkit: find-and-replace colours sitewide, apply fonts, set sizes, weights and spacing, and recolour buttons. Any theme.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
ChildForge Child Theme Builder
#65,327by Kirtikumar Solanki2 months ago
Create WordPress child themes from the admin with enhanced generation controls.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Cut The Lights
#71,081by giuliogulizia4 years ago
A simple plugin that enables dark mode in your admin area.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
SMNTCS Theme List View
#71,172by Niels Lange1 month ago
Adds a compact list view of all installed themes to the Appearance menu.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Axismundi Theme Switcher
#73,754by Jiwoon Kim2 months ago
A light, dark, and auto color-scheme switcher block that remembers what the reader picked.
- Installs
- <10
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day