Restrict WordPress Search Queries to Post Titles Only

Optimize your site's search functionality by forcing WordPress to only look at post titles while ignoring body content. By utilizing the posts_search filter and the $wpdb object, you can modify the SQL WHERE clause to specifically target the post_title column. This is highly effective for documentation sites or blogs where title matches are more relevant than deep content matches, providing users with a faster and more precise search experience.

Home / Post / Search Only Post Titles in WordPress

Search Only Post Titles in WordPress

๐Ÿ“… Published: Nov 11, 2025 ๐Ÿ“– Type: Post ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ Views: 359
Advanced Guides Code Snippets Coding Blog Content Management PHP PHP Debugging PHP Development PHP Snippets Theme Customization Theme Development Woocommerce Wordpress WordPress Code Snippets WordPress Development WordPress Functions WordPress Theme Development WordPress Tutorials
Search Only Post Titles in WordPress

Search Only Post Titles in WordPress Tutorial/Guide

If you want your WordPress search to check only post titles and ignore content, here's a quick method using the posts_search filter in your theme:

  1. Navigate to your theme's directory and open the functions.php file.
  2. Add the following code snippet:
function limit_search_to_post_titles($search, $wp_query) {
    if (is_search() && !is_admin()) {
        $search_terms = $wp_query->query_vars['s'];
        
        if (!empty($search_terms)) {
            global $wpdb;
            $search = $wpdb->prepare(" AND {$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE %s", '%' . $wpdb->esc_like($search_terms) . '%');
        }
    }
    return $search;
}
add_filter('posts_search', 'limit_search_to_post_titles', 10, 2);

That’s it! Now your search will filter by post titles only, excluding body content and pages.    

๐Ÿ”— You Might Also Like

๐Ÿ’ก Have a Coding Problem?

Search our archives or reach out to our team for solutions and expert advice.

Find a Tutorial Ask the Dev Team