If you are sick of seeing /#more-123 attached to your URLs every time a user clicks “Read More” in GeneratePress, I have the exact fix. It looks spammy when shared on social media, and it is incredibly annoying to look at. Here is the exact 1-line PHP code to remove it forever, along with a custom 1KB plugin I built so you don’t have to touch your theme files.
Why Does This Happen Only on GeneratePress?
This is the most common question I get from my clients. You probably noticed that other themes like Astra or Kadence do not have this annoying jump link. Let’s get this straight right now. It is not a flaw in GeneratePress.
The #more link is actually a default WordPress core feature. It acts as an anchor link to “jump” the user past the introduction paragraph. Developers for heavy themes like Astra know you hate this. They quietly include an extra code snippet in their theme files to remove it by default.
GeneratePress operates on a completely different philosophy. The entire point of the theme is to remain as lightweight as physically possible. They refuse to add extra code to remove a core WordPress feature, choosing instead to leave that decision up to you. You are not experiencing a bug. You are just seeing their strict commitment to avoiding code bloat.
Does the #more Link Actually Hurt SEO?
Before we dive into the fix, let’s clear up a massive myth. Does that weird hash link hurt your Google rankings? No. Full stop.
This is a common fear among new bloggers, but it is 100% unfounded. Google’s crawlers are specifically programmed to completely ignore anything in a URL that comes after a hash symbol (#).
To the search engine crawler, yourdomain.com/your-awesome-post/ and yourdomain.com/your-awesome-post/#more-123 are recognized as the exact same page. This does not create duplicate content issues. It will not trigger an algorithmic penalty. The issue is purely aesthetic because it looks messy and unprofessional when someone copies the link to share it on WhatsApp or Facebook.
The Old Headache: functions.php & Child Themes
I have dealt with this exact issue for years. My clients would constantly complain about the ugly URLs and demand I remove them. Back then, I would drop a quick custom code snippet right into the parent functions.php file. The problem was instantly fixed.
But then a major theme update would drop. The parent theme would overwrite the file, wiping out my custom code completely. The annoying jump link would magically reappear, and I would get an angry email from the client.
I eventually started using Child Themes just to preserve this one single line of code. Honestly, building and maintaining an entire Child Theme for a single fix felt like massive overkill. It was a stupid, inefficient way to work.
The Solution: My 1KB “Plug and Play” Plugin
I finally got tired of patching this manually for every new blogger I worked with. Most beginners do not know how to safely edit backend files anyway. So, I packaged the exact fix into a dedicated plugin.
This plugin does exactly one thing. It strips the jump link from your URLs. That is it.
It is literally 1KB in size. There are zero settings pages to configure. You just install it, activate it, and the problem vanishes instantly. If you ever decide you want the jump link back, just deactivate the plugin. It is the safest, fastest way to handle the issue without risking your live site.
The Manual Method (For the Purists)
Look, I get it. Some of you are hardcore developers who refuse to install another plugin, even a 1KB one. If you are already running a Child Theme or a code snippet manager, you can do this manually.
Just copy this exact line of code and paste it at the very bottom of your functions.php file.
add_filter( 'generate_more_jump', '__return_false' );
Make sure you do not mess up the syntax. One missing semicolon can take down your entire website and throw a fatal error. If you are not entirely comfortable handling PHP, I strongly suggest you just stick to the 1KB plugin.
Remove #more from URL in GeneratePress Theme
Technical SEO & WordPress FAQs
Q1. Is the #more jump link a GeneratePress bug?
No, it is absolutely not a bug. It is a core feature built into WordPress itself. GeneratePress just chooses not to hide it by default to keep the theme as lean as possible.
Q2. Will removing the read more jump link slow down my site?
Not at all. Whether you use the manual PHP filter or my 1KB plugin, the code is microscopic. There is zero performance impact on your Core Web Vitals or server response time.
Q3. Can I just edit the parent theme’s functions.php?
You can, but it is a terrible idea. The very next time GeneratePress releases an update, it will overwrite that file. Your custom code will be deleted, and the jump link will return.
Q4. Why do other themes hide this by default?
Themes like Astra and Divi pack a lot of extra background code to hide default WordPress behaviors for aesthetic reasons. GeneratePress prioritizes absolute minimal bloat over aesthetics, which is exactly why it loads so fast.
Q5. Does Google index URLs with the # symbol?
Google completely ignores fragment identifiers. It drops the # symbol and anything after it before indexing the page. Your SEO is perfectly safe, but fixing it definitely makes your links look much cleaner for human readers.
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