Title: Default Category (partially) Deleted
Last modified: September 8, 2026

---

# Default Category (partially) Deleted

 *  [catwingz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/catwingz/)
 * (@catwingz)
 * [16 hours, 5 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-category-partially-deleted/)
 * Note – the site is hidden behind a Coming Soon page.
 * Somehow in the course of getting this site set up, the default category has been
   partially deleted. The slug and the spot in the hierarchy is still there, but
   the name and the ability to access it in the Dashboard to repair it are both 
   gone. Now the only thing showing where the name should be is a ?
 * How can I fix this??
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fdefault-category-partially-deleted%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [raza98](https://wordpress.org/support/users/raza98/)
 * (@raza98)
 * [11 hours, 52 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-category-partially-deleted/#post-19014030)
 * This is most likely a corrupted category record in the WordPress database.
 * First, back up your database. Then go to phpMyAdmin **→ **your WordPress database**
   → **wp_terms and find the category by its existing slug. If the term is there
   but the name is blank or showing incorrectly, edit that row and put the correct
   category name back in.
 * Then check wp_term_taxonomy and make sure the same term_id has taxonomy set to
   category.After that, clear your WordPress/site cache and check Posts**→** Categories
   again.
 * Do not delete and recreate the category yet, because existing posts may still
   be attached to that category. Repairing the existing database record is the safer
   approach.
 *  Moderator [threadi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/threadi/)
 * (@threadi)
 * [9 hours, 34 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-category-partially-deleted/#post-19014115)
 * I can’t quite picture what that looks like right now. Can you show me a screenshot
   of it? See: [https://wordpress.org/support/forum-user-guide/block-editor/#adding-screenshots](https://wordpress.org/support/forum-user-guide/block-editor/#adding-screenshots)

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fdefault-category-partially-deleted%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
to reply to this topic.

## Tags

 * [categories](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/categories/)
 * [database](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database/)
 * [settings](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/settings/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [threadi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/threadi/)
 * Last activity: [9 hours, 34 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-category-partially-deleted/#post-19014115)
 * Status: not resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics