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Troubleshooting Common Elementor Footer Builder Display Issues

32 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Ultimate addons for elementor

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Creating a custom footer with the Elementor – Header, Footer & Blocks plugin is a powerful way to design your website. However, users often encounter display issues where the footer doesn't appear, shows up incorrectly, or conflicts with their theme. This guide covers the most common problems and their solutions, compiled from community experiences.

Common Footer Display Issues and Solutions

1. Footer Not Showing at All

Problem: You've created and activated a footer, but it doesn't appear on the live site.

Why it happens: This is often due to incorrect display settings, theme conflicts, or the site's page template.

Solutions:

  • Check Display Settings: Ensure the footer is set to display on the 'Entire Website' or the specific pages you need. This is configured in the footer's settings within the Elementor editor.
  • Page Template: If you are using a landing page, verify that the page is not using the 'Elementor Canvas' template, as this template typically removes headers and footers. Switch to the 'Elementor Full Width' or 'Default' template.
  • Theme Conflict: Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty to see if the footer appears. If it does, the issue is likely a conflict with your original theme.

2. Footer Appears in the Wrong Place or is Duplicated

Problem: The footer displays in the middle of the page, is stuck to the bottom while scrolling (sticky), or appears twice.

Why it happens: This is usually caused by CSS conflicts with your theme or other plugins, or because the theme's native footer is still active.

Solutions:

  • Theme Support Method: Navigate to Appearance > Elementor Header & Footer Builder > Theme Support. Try switching between 'Method 1' and 'Method 2'. Many users have reported that 'Method 2' resolves positioning and duplication issues, especially with themes like ColorMag and OceanWP.
  • CSS Fix for Sticky Footer: Avoid using position: fixed; in your custom CSS, as this will make the footer sticky. To push the footer to the bottom on pages with little content, you may need to add custom CSS that focuses on proper layout techniques, like flexbox.
  • Child Theme Functions: If your theme's default footer is appearing alongside your custom one (e.g., with GeneratePress or Astra), you may need to add code to your child theme's functions.php file to manually re-enable the theme's footer area below your custom one, if desired.

3. Styling Looks Different on the Frontend

Problem: The footer's colors, background, or alignment look perfect in the Elementor editor but are wrong on the live site.

Why it happens: Your theme's CSS is overriding the styles applied by Elementor, or there is a caching issue.

Solutions:

  • Regenerate CSS: Go to Elementor > Tools > Regenerate Files. This clears Elementor's internal CSS files and forces them to be recreated, which often resolves styling discrepancies.
  • Clear All Caches: Clear any caching from your WordPress caching plugin, server-level cache (like Varnish), and your browser cache.
  • Inspect Specific Styles: Use your browser's developer tools (right-click on the element and select 'Inspect') to identify which theme CSS rule is overriding your design. You may need to add more specific CSS rules in Elementor's custom CSS box to override the theme.

4. Footer Doesn't Stretch to Full Width

Problem: The footer is contained when you want it to be full-width, or vice-versa.

Why it happens: The layout settings for the footer section within Elementor may not be configured correctly, or the theme is applying a container.

Solutions:

  • Elementor Section Settings: Edit your footer template in Elementor. Click on the outer section, navigate to the 'Layout' tab in the advanced settings, and set the 'Content Width' to 'Full Width'. Then, go to the 'Style' tab and ensure the 'Width' is set to 100%.
  • Theme Container: Some themes force a container on all content. The 'Theme Support' method switch (mentioned above) can sometimes resolve this. If not, you may need to add custom CSS to override the theme's container width for the footer area specifically.

General Best Practices and Final Checks

  • Always Use a Child Theme: Before adding any custom code to your functions.php or style.css, ensure you are using a child theme. This prevents your changes from being overwritten during theme updates.
  • Test for Plugin Conflicts: Temporarily deactivate all plugins except Elementor and the Header Footer plugin. If the footer works, reactivate your plugins one by one to identify the culprit.
  • Check for Updates: Ensure WordPress, your theme, Elementor, and the Header Footer plugin are all updated to their latest versions. Many display bugs are fixed in updates.

By methodically working through these common issues, you can resolve most problems with your Elementor-built footer. The key steps are checking the Theme Support settings, regenerating CSS, and ensuring there are no conflicts with your theme or other plugins.

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