By default, WordPress employs lazy loading to postpone media downloads, enhancing page load speeds.
At CanadaCreate, we utilize this feature on several of our sites to enhance performance. It accelerates page loading by deferring images until they are needed.
Nevertheless, there are numerous reasons to disable lazy loading, including optimizing specific elements, troubleshooting problems, ensuring compatibility with plugins, or avoiding a negative user experience.
In this article, we will guide you through the simple process of disabling lazy loading in WordPress.
What Is Lazy Loading?
WordPress introduced lazy loading for images in version 5.5 and later expanded this feature to include iframe embeds such as YouTube videos, Spotify, and other embedded content.
This technique enhances your site’s performance and page speed by loading content in the visible area first.
A faster website benefits users and can also boost your website’s rankings, as search engines like Google consider speed a crucial ranking factor.
In addition to images and embeds, you can also easily lazy load comments and Gravatars to further enhance page load speed.
You can observe the lazy loading feature in action by right-clicking on an image and selecting the Inspect tool in your browser.
This action will split your browser screen, allowing you to view the HTML source code. Here, you can identify the ‘loading=lazy’ attribute associated with the image.
Generally, we advise against disabling lazy load because of its significant benefits for your WordPress site. Turning it off may lead to decreased website speed, lower conversion rates, and diminished SEO performance.
Nonetheless, lazy loading can negatively impact the user experience for certain types of websites.
For example, if you operate a photography website where images are the primary focus of your content, lazy loading may detract from the experience for your visitors.
In other scenarios, you might prefer to disable the default WordPress lazy load because you are using an alternative lazy loading solution.
With that in mind, let’s explore how to easily disable lazy load in WordPress.
In this tutorial, we will present both a code method and a plugin method. You can use the links below to navigate to your preferred option:
- Method 1: Disable Lazy Load in WordPress Using WPCode (Recommended)
- Method 2: Disable Lazy Load in WordPress Using a Plugin
- Video Tutorial
- Bonus: Enhance Your Site’s Speed and Performance
Method 1: Disable Lazy Load in WordPress Using WPCode (Recommended)
To disable the lazy load feature in WordPress, simply add custom code to the functions.php file of your theme.
Be cautious, as even a minor mistake in the code can cause your website to malfunction or become inaccessible.
For this reason, we suggest using WPCode to implement custom code safely.
WPCode is the top plugin for adding custom code snippets in WordPress, making the process easy and secure.
We have rigorously tested it on our demo site and achieved outstanding results. For more information, check out our comprehensive WPCode review.
Start by installing and activating the WPCode plugin. For step-by-step guidance, refer to our tutorial on installing a WordPress plugin.
🚨 Important Note: WPCode offers a free version suitable for this tutorial, but upgrading to the premium plan unlocks additional features such as a cloud library of code snippets and conditional logic.
After activation, navigate to the Code Snippets » + Add Snippet section in your WordPress dashboard.
Next, click the ‘Use snippet’ button located under the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ section.
This will take you to the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, where you can begin by entering a name for your code snippet.
This can be any label that helps you recognize the purpose of the code snippet. We named ours ‘Disable Lazy Load.’
After naming your custom snippet, choose ‘PHP Snippet’ from the ‘Code Type’ dropdown menu located in the top right corner of the screen.
Next, copy and paste the following PHP code into the ‘Code Preview’ box:
add_filter( 'wp_lazy_loading_enabled', '__return_false' );
This is how the code will appear after you’ve pasted it.
Then, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section and select the ‘Auto Insert’ mode.
This ensures that your custom code runs automatically across your WordPress site once the snippet is activated.
Next, return to the top of the page and switch the ‘Inactive’ toggle to ‘Active’.
Finally, remember to click the ‘Save Snippet’ button to save and execute your code snippet.
Now, lazy loading will be disabled on your WordPress site.
You can verify this by right-clicking on an image and selecting ‘Inspect’ from the browser menu.
In the HTML code for the image, the ‘loading=lazy’ attribute will no longer be present.
Method 2: Disable Lazy Load in WordPress with a Plugin
If you prefer not to modify your site’s code, you can easily disable WordPress lazy loading by using a plugin.
Simply install and activate the Disable Lazy Load plugin. For detailed instructions, refer to our comprehensive guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
This plugin is ready to use immediately and requires no additional setup. Once activated, it will automatically turn off the lazy load feature on your website.
Bonus: Enhance Your Site’s Speed and Performance
Disabling lazy loading may negatively impact your website’s speed and performance.
In this case, consider implementing additional strategies to improve your site’s performance and reduce page load times. For instance, optimize images by compressing them and using JPEG or PNG formats.
Additionally, always keep your WordPress version up to date, use excerpts on your homepage, paginate comments, and select SEO-friendly themes for your website.
Additionally, consider using caching plugins such as WP Rocket or WP Super Cache to enhance your website’s speed.
For more helpful tips, check out our beginner’s guide on improving WordPress speed and performance.
We hope this article has guided you in effectively disabling lazy load in WordPress. You may also want to explore our beginner’s guide on optimizing WordPress images for faster page load times or check out our recommendations for the best WordPress image compression plugins.
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