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Getting Started with Menu Icons ​

Menu Icons is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add icons to your navigation menu items — no coding required. This guide explains what the plugin does, how to install and activate it, and which icon types are available.

What Menu Icons Does ​

Menu Icons adds an Icon section to each menu item in the WordPress menu editor. Once the plugin is active, you can assign an icon to any menu item and control how it looks — including its size, vertical alignment, and position relative to the menu label.

Icons help make navigation menus more visual and easier to scan, especially on sites with many menu items or on mobile-friendly layouts.

Installing the Plugin ​

Menu Icons is available for free from the WordPress Plugin Directory.

To install it, follow the standard WordPress plugin installation process. If you are not familiar with how to install plugins, see How to Install WordPress Plugins.

Activating the Plugin ​

After installation, activate the plugin from Plugins > Installed Plugins by clicking Activate next to Menu Icons.

Once activated, the plugin is ready to use. No separate setup wizard or onboarding step is required.

Supported Icon Types ​

Menu Icons supports eight icon types. You can choose a different type for each individual menu item.

  • Dashicons — the built-in WordPress icon library. No additional files are loaded; these icons are always available in any WordPress installation.
  • Genericons — a vector icon font designed for WordPress themes and plugins. Loaded from the plugin when selected.
  • Font Awesome — one of the most widely used icon libraries, providing hundreds of icons across many categories.
  • SVG — lets you upload and use a custom SVG file as a menu icon. Useful when you need a specific logo or brand icon not available in the other libraries.
  • Elusive
  • Foundation
  • Genericons
  • Image

💡 Tip: If you want to keep things simple and avoid loading extra icon font files, start with Dashicons — they are already part of WordPress and require no additional resources.

Next Steps ​

Once the plugin is installed and activated, you are ready to start adding icons to your menu items. See How to Add Icons to Menu Items for a step-by-step walkthrough.