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WP Speed Tip #5 – Disable WordPress Emojis (Yes, They’re Slowing You Down)
Why It Matters
WordPress loads its own emoji support even if you never use emojis.
That means:
- Extra JavaScript in your
<head> - 1–2 additional HTTP requests
- Slower page render, especially on mobile
And worst of all? Modern browsers already support emojis natively.
The Fix: Disable WordPress Emoji Script
Add this to your functions.php (or via Code Snippets plugin):
remove_action( 'wp_head', 'print_emoji_detection_script', 7 );
remove_action( 'wp_print_styles', 'print_emoji_styles' );
remove_action( 'admin_print_scripts', 'print_emoji_detection_script' );
remove_action( 'admin_print_styles', 'print_emoji_styles' );
remove_filter( 'the_content_feed', 'wp_staticize_emoji' );
remove_filter( 'comment_text_rss', 'wp_staticize_emoji' );
remove_filter( 'wp_mail', 'wp_staticize_emoji_for_email' );This removes both front-end and admin-side emoji scripts.
What It Actually Saves
- ~8KB of inline JS on every page
- Up to 2 HTTP requests (which delay first paint)
- Slight but cumulative speed gain on repeat views or minimal setups
Alternative: Use a Plugin (if non-technical)
- Disable Emojis (GDPR Friendly) – does exactly this and nothing more
What Not to Do
- Don’t just deregister the script with
wp_deregister_script()— that doesn’t cover all cases. - Don’t worry — disabling this won’t break emoji display in modern browsers.
Bonus Tip:
Combine this with Tip #1 (ditch page builder) and Tip #4 (LiteSpeed Cache) and you’ll already be faster than 80% of WP installs.
Bookmark this tip. Tomorrow’s trick:
“Tip #6 – Limit Post Revisions to Prevent Database Bloat”
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