How to Change Sidebar Position or Width in Kadence
Out of the box, Kadence doesn’t give you a sidebar at all. Posts open on the “Narrow” layout and pages on “Normal” – both single-column. That catches out anyone expecting the classic blog look. Maybe you want one on the right, maybe on the left, or maybe you just need the one you’ve already turned on to be narrower.
Good news – you can change all of this in the Kadence Customizer. No code, no plugins, no CSS hacks. And every option I’m covering here works in the free version of Kadence.
How Do I Change the Sidebar Position for All Posts?
This is the most common change people want to make, and it takes about 30 seconds.
Head to Appearance > Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Single Post Layout, then scroll down to Default Post Layout. It’s not a dropdown – it’s a row of 5 layout icons, and the highlighted one is what your posts use right now:
- Normal – Single column at your standard content width. No sidebar.
- Narrow – Single column, but narrower. This is the one Kadence starts you on.
- Fullwidth – Content stretches edge to edge. Best for landing pages, not so much for blog posts with long paragraphs.
- Left Sidebar – Sidebar on the left, content on the right. I’ve seen recipe blogs and news sites use this, but it’s less common.
- Right Sidebar – The classic blog layout. Content on the left, sidebar on the right.
Click the icon you want, hit Publish in the Customizer, and it applies to every blog post on your site.
Just below that row sits a separate Post Default Sidebar dropdown. That one doesn’t move anything – it picks which widget area fills the sidebar (Sidebar 1 or Sidebar 2). Leave it alone unless you’ve built a second widget area and want your posts to use it.
The archive gotcha. Here’s something that trips people up – “Single Post Layout” only affects individual post pages. Your blog archive page (the page that lists all your posts) has its own setting. You’ll find it under Appearance > Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Archive Layout. If you want a consistent look, set both to the same option.
How Do I Change the Sidebar for Pages?
Almost the same process, just a different section.
Go to Appearance > Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Page Layout and scroll to Default Page Layout – the same row of 5 icons, the same choices. Pages start on “Normal”, and honestly, that’s the right call for most sites. Your About page, Contact page, and Services page don’t usually need a sidebar competing for attention.
But if you run a content-heavy site – something like a wiki or knowledge base – adding a sidebar to pages can help visitors navigate. Just make sure you’re putting useful widgets in it. A sidebar full of random stuff is worse than no sidebar at all.
How Do I Override the Sidebar on a Single Page or Post?
This is my favorite Kadence feature for layout control. You can set a global default (say, right sidebar for all posts) and then override it on specific pages or posts individually.
Here’s how:
- Open the page or post in the WordPress editor.
- Look for the Page Settings panel – it’s called Post Settings on a post. You’ll find it in the right sidebar of the editor. Click the small pencil icon in the top toolbar if you don’t see it.
- Find the Page Layout group.
- Click the layout you want. There’s an extra Default option here, which means “just follow whatever the Customizer says.”
- Update or publish the page.
That override only applies to that one page or post. Everything else stays on your global setting.
I use this all the time. My blog posts have a right sidebar globally, but my homepage has no sidebar. My landing pages use fullwidth. All without writing a single line of CSS or installing a page builder – just Kadence’s built-in per-page settings.
How Do I Change the Sidebar Width?
Position is one thing, but sometimes the sidebar is just too wide. Or too narrow for that email signup form you squeezed in there.
Go to Appearance > Customize > General > Sidebar. The Sidebar Width slider controls the percentage of space the sidebar takes up. The number box next to it starts empty – that’s Kadence falling back to its built-in ratio, which works out to roughly 29%.
A few guidelines:
- 25% gives your content significantly more room. Good for text-heavy blogs where readability matters.
- 30% is about what you get by default and works for most sites.
- 35% makes sense if you’re running display ads or have widgets that need more horizontal space.
The change applies globally to every page and post that uses a sidebar.
Watch out for the content width squeeze. If you’re using a narrow container layout and a wide sidebar, your content area can get uncomfortably small. I’ve seen sites where the blog text ends up in a column barely 400 pixels wide – that’s hard to read. If things look cramped after adding a sidebar, try widening your blog post container width or reducing the sidebar width a few percentage points.
What Should I Actually Put in My Sidebar?
Having a sidebar is only useful if what’s in it helps your readers. I’ve seen way too many blogs with 12 widgets stuffed into their sidebar, and nobody clicks on any of them.
Stick to 3-5 widgets. Here’s what actually earns its place:
- Search box – Always useful on content-heavy sites.
- Recent Posts or Popular Posts – Keeps readers moving through your site.
- Categories – Helpful if you write about distinct topics (recipes, travel, WordPress tutorials).
- Email signup form – If you’re building a list, this is prime real estate.
- Short About Me blurb – One sentence and a photo. Not your life story.
Everything else? Probably skip it. Tag clouds, calendar widgets, and meta login links are relics from 2010. They add clutter without adding value. While you’re cleaning up your blog layout, you might also want to remove the author meta from your posts or remove the page title for a cleaner look.
Should You Even Use a Sidebar in 2026?
This might surprise you, but plenty of successful blogs have ditched sidebars entirely.
The trend over the past few years has been toward cleaner, single-column layouts. And there’s a practical reason – on mobile (which is 60-70% of traffic for most blogs), Kadence pushes the sidebar below your content anyway. So mobile visitors never see it in the traditional sidebar position. They’d have to scroll past your entire article to find it.
That said, sidebars still make sense in specific situations:
- Blog posts – A sidebar with related content and categories helps readers discover more of your writing. If content discovery matters to your site, keep it.
- Static pages – Usually no. Let the content stand on its own.
- Shops and directories – Filter sidebars are genuinely useful here.
My take? If your sidebar has 2-3 widgets that actually get clicked, keep it. If it’s just filler you added because “blogs are supposed to have sidebars” – try going without one for a month. Check your analytics. You might not miss it.
Quick Reference
| What You Want | Where to Find It |
|---|---|
| Change sidebar for all posts | Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Single Post Layout > Default Post Layout |
| Change sidebar for all pages | Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Page Layout > Default Page Layout |
| Change sidebar for blog archive | Customize > Posts/Pages Layout > Archive Layout |
| Override sidebar on one page/post | Editor > Page Settings > Page Layout |
| Adjust sidebar width | Customize > General > Sidebar |
Every one of these settings works in the free Kadence theme. No Pro upgrade needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have different sidebar positions for posts and pages in Kadence?
Yes. You control each one independently under Appearance > Customize > Posts/Pages Layout – posts, pages, and archives all have their own layout setting. Worth knowing: neither starts with a sidebar. Kadence sets posts to “Narrow” and pages to “Normal” out of the box, so you’re switching a sidebar on rather than moving one that’s already there.
Does the Kadence sidebar work on mobile?
On mobile screens, Kadence moves the sidebar below your main content automatically. There’s no way to show a side-by-side sidebar on phones – the screen is too narrow. This means mobile visitors have to scroll past your entire article to see sidebar widgets, which is why I recommend keeping sidebar widgets minimal and putting your most important ones (like email signup) in the content itself on mobile.
Can I add different widgets to different page sidebars?
Not with the free version of Kadence alone. The default sidebar is the same across all posts and pages. If you need unique sidebars per page, you’ll need a plugin like “Custom Sidebars” or the Kadence Pro “Hooked Elements” feature, which lets you conditionally display different widget areas.
How do I remove the sidebar from my WooCommerce shop page?
Go to Appearance > Customize > Posts/Pages Layout and look for the WooCommerce-specific layout settings. If you don’t see them, open your Shop page in the editor and use the Kadence Page Settings panel to set that page’s layout to “Normal” or “Narrow”.
