---
title: Delete WordPress User Roles
description: "## Extra User Roles in WordPress By default, WordPress arrives with five default user roles: [Contributor](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/contributor/), [Subscriber](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/subscriber), [Author](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/author), [Editor,](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/editor) and [Administrator](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/administrator). However, when you start installing plugins, you may see many extra roles. For example, if you install Yoast SEO,…"
url: "https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/delete-wordpress-user-roles/"
updated: "2026-10-14"
category: PublishPress Capabilities / Roles
---

# Delete WordPress User Roles

## Extra User Roles in WordPress

By default, WordPress arrives with five default user roles: [Contributor](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/contributor/), [Subscriber](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/subscriber), [Author](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/author), [Editor,](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/editor) and [Administrator](https://publishpress.com/knowledge-base/administrator). However, when you start installing plugins, you may see many extra roles. For example, if you install Yoast SEO, there will be two new roles: "SEO Editor" and "SEO Manager". If you install WooCommerce, you'll see two more roles: "[Shop manager](https://publishpress.com/links/shop-manager)" and "Customer". In this screenshot below, you can see some of these extra roles:

![WordPress user roles from plugins](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/extra-user-roles-1024x625.png)

What happens if you do want all these extra roles? Is it possible to delete these extra roles? Yes, you can safely delete WordPress user roles with [the PublishPress Capabilities plugin](https://publishpress.com/capabilities/).

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## How to delete a WordPress user role

- Install the [PublishPress Capabilities](https://publishpress.com/links/capabilities) plugin to your site.
- Go to "Role" in the WordPress admin menu.
- Click the "Delete" link under any role that has that available. For safety reasons, some roles can not be deleted.
- You'll see a pop-up box. Click "OK" to delete the role.
- Any users in this role will be moved to the "Susbcriber" role or whatever is set to the default role.

![Delete a WordPress user role](https://publishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-15-at-12.28.58-PM-1024x484.png)