Delete Shared/Saved Gutenberg Blocks

Been playing with WordPress new Gutenberg functionality. While exploring the new features, I created some Shared blocks via the “Convert to Shared Block” button. After another hour of playing with the Gutenberg API, there were a number of “orphaned” Shared blocks (just due to swapping out code snippets while testing). After some searching, I found it is possible to delete Shared blocks programmatically with JavaScript, but could not find any specific documentation or examples. So, I came up with an alternate way to delete Shared blocks via the CPT UI in the WP Admin Area.

Delete Shared/Saved Gutenberg Blocks

This technique does not require JavaScript. Instead, it works like this:

1. Add a simple code snippet via your theme’s functions.php
2. Visit the WP Admin Area > Blocks, and delete any unwanted blocks

So you can remove any unwanted or orphaned “Shared” or “Saved” Gutenberg blocks.

Step 1: Add code snippet

Here is the code to add to functions.php:

// remove this code when finished!
function g7g_modify_wp_block() {
	
	global $wp_post_types;
	
	$cpt = 'wp_block';
	
	if (empty($wp_post_types[$cpt]) || !is_object($wp_post_types[$cpt]) || empty($wp_post_types[$cpt]->labels)) return;
	
	$wp_post_types[$cpt]->show_ui      = true;
	$wp_post_types[$cpt]->show_in_menu = true;
	$wp_post_types[$cpt]->_edit_link   = 'post.php?post=%d';
	
}
add_action('init', 'g7g_modify_wp_block', 1111);

What this code is doing? It is modifying the Custom Post Type used by Gutenberg blocks, wp_block. By default, the wp_block CPT does not enable the admin UI. So we grab the global post-types variable and modify to enable the admin interface.

Note: this technique is meant to be temporary, and removed after you’ve deleted any unwanted blocks. Make sure to remove the code when finished, and never enable on a live, production site. I.e., it’s just for testing and experimenting, while learning Gutenberg.

Step 2: Visit the Blocks UI

After adding the code from Step 1, you can visit the WP Admin Area to find a new menu item for the “Blocks” post type. So take a visit to find all Shared/Saved blocks, ready for deleting. Just like any other post type.

Remember to remove the code snippet when no longer needed.

Disclaimer

I am just learning Gutenberg. And I am not a JavaScript wizard. If you know of a better/easier way of deleting Shared blocks, please share via the comments below. Hopefully the Gutenberg developers will add a button or something to delete unwanted blocks in a future update. Until then, this technique works well.

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Web Developer. Book Author. Secretly Important.