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To disable AMP safely, first identify what is generating your AMP pages, then deactivate that feature, remove rel="amphtml" discovery links, and redirect every former AMP URL to its matching canonical URL. Turning off a plugin alone does not resolve AMP URLs that Google has already crawled.
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What disabling AMP actually involves
Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is an alternate rendering of a WordPress page. Depending on the implementation, it may use an /amp/ path, a query-string variant, or another site-specific URL pattern. The AMP version can be generated by the AMP for WordPress plugin, a theme or hosting integration, or custom code.
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- Stop generating AMP. Disable the plugin or feature that creates the alternate document.
- Stop advertising AMP. Remove the
rel="amphtml"link from the canonical page source. - Resolve old URLs. Redirect existing AMP addresses to the corresponding non-AMP page, or return a 404 when the underlying content has genuinely been removed.
Skipping either of the last two steps can leave stale URLs in search results, create crawl errors, or send visitors to dead pages.
Inventory your current AMP implementation first
Do not deactivate anything until you know which component serves AMP and which URLs it affects. Make a short inventory while the current setup is still available.
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Find the component that generates AMP
- In WordPress, open Plugins and look for the AMP plugin or another mobile-page, performance, or theme integration that mentions AMP.
- Open the AMP settings screen and record the current template mode, supported content types, and mobile-redirection setting.
- Check theme and must-use plugins if no ordinary plugin appears. A host, CDN, or custom theme can add AMP independently of the WordPress Plugins screen.
- View a canonical page’s HTML source while logged out and search for
amphtml. The link’s URL reveals the pattern you must later redirect.
Record the mode and affected content
The AMP for WordPress settings screen can use three template modes:
| Mode | What to record | Why it changes the shutdown |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Whether the whole site is rendered as AMP | There may be no separate AMP URL for every page; disabling it can change the primary rendering of the site. |
| Transitional | Which templates or content types have AMP versions | Only selected URLs may need redirects, and some templates may continue to expose AMP links. |
| Reader | Which posts, pages, or other types have a separate AMP reader document | Separate legacy paths are common, so URL mapping is especially important. |
Also note whether AMP is enabled for posts, pages, archives, custom post types, or other templates. If mobile redirection is enabled, document it: a visitor may have been sent to AMP automatically even when they did not request an AMP URL directly.
Build a URL inventory
Export or sample URLs from your XML sitemap, analytics, server logs, Search Console reports, and the AMP settings. Include several posts, pages, archives, pagination URLs, and custom post types if they are supported. Look for every format in use, such as:
https://example.com/article/amp/https://example.com/article/?amphttps://example.com/article/?amp=1
Those examples are patterns, not universal WordPress addresses. Use the exact format found on your site; a redirect rule for only one pattern will not handle the others.
Choose between a full and selective shutdown
The right scope depends on whether AMP is creating a site-wide maintenance burden or is useful for only a subset of content.
| Approach | Use it when | Work required | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full removal | You no longer want AMP anywhere | Deactivate and uninstall the generator, remove discovery links, and redirect all legacy AMP patterns | Missing one content type or URL pattern can leave orphaned AMP pages |
| Selective control | Some templates or posts still need AMP | Disable AMP per post/page or with the plugin’s conditional filter; retain AMP links only where AMP remains active | Inconsistent settings can create mixed behavior across templates |
For a large site, stage the change by content type or URL family. A small site with a handful of known AMP patterns can usually complete a full migration in one maintenance window after testing.
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- Back up WordPress and the database. Keep a copy of the AMP settings, active plugins, theme files, and current redirect rules. Record the date so you can identify changes in logs.
- List canonical destinations. For every sampled AMP URL, write down the exact non-AMP URL that should remain indexed. Preserve the path, slug, language prefix, and pagination where applicable.
- Lower the chance of a partial outage. If your redirect rules are managed outside WordPress, make the server or CDN change ready before disabling the plugin. If a redirect plugin will handle them, install and configure it first without activating broad rules.
- Plan a rollback. Keep the previous plugin settings and redirect configuration available. A rollback is useful if canonical pages return errors or a content type was overlooked.
Disable AMP across the whole site
Use this sequence when no AMP documents should remain.
- Open the AMP settings and note the configuration. Save the template mode, supported content types, mobile redirection, and any custom URL settings.
- Deactivate the AMP generator. In WordPress, go to Plugins, deactivate the AMP plugin or the component identified during inventory, and clear any page, object, or CDN cache that could continue serving old output.
- Uninstall only after recording settings. WordPress support guidance treats deactivation as the first step. Uninstalling removes the plugin’s active code; it does not automatically repair links that Google or users already know.
- Check a canonical page’s source. Confirm that the page no longer contains a
<link rel="amphtml" href="...">element. If it remains, another plugin, theme, cache, or custom integration is still advertising AMP. - Publish the redirect map. Redirect each old AMP pattern to its matching canonical URL before announcing the change or allowing a large recrawl.
Do not redirect every AMP request to the home page. A page-specific redirect preserves the visitor’s intent and gives search engines a clear replacement.
Disable AMP selectively
Per-post or per-page controls
The official AMP plugin supports disabling AMP on individual posts and pages. Use the edit screen’s AMP control for content that should remain standard WordPress while other templates continue to serve AMP. After changing a page, test both its canonical source and its former AMP address.
The amp_is_enabled filter
When the plugin is network activated or you need a rule based on post type, taxonomy, or another condition, the amp_is_enabled filter controls whether AMP functionality runs. A small site-wide example is:
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add_filter( 'amp_is_enabled', function ( $enabled ) {
return false;
} );Place conditional logic in a site-specific plugin or another deployment-controlled location rather than editing a vendor plugin. Before using a filter, confirm that your version and activation method support it. A filter that disables generation does not remove existing discovery links or create redirects, so those tasks still require separate handling.
Keep the remaining AMP pages coherent
If only selected content remains on AMP, retain rel="amphtml" on canonical pages that still have a working AMP counterpart. Remove it only from pages you have actually disabled. Mixed migrations fail when a canonical page advertises an AMP URL that now returns an error.
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Remove AMP discovery links
Google Search Central’s removal guidance is explicit: remove the rel="amphtml" link from the canonical non-AMP page’s source code when the AMP page is being removed. Inspect the raw HTML while logged out, not just the visual page, because a cache or SEO extension can add the link after the page is rendered.
Check representative URLs from every affected template:
- Posts and pages
- Category, tag, and date archives
- Custom post types
- Paginated pages
- Translated or region-specific paths
If the link persists after plugin deactivation, inspect theme functions, must-use plugins, server-side HTML transforms, and cached copies. Purge caches only after the source is corrected; otherwise an old response can make the migration appear incomplete.
Redirect former AMP URLs to canonical pages
Use a 301 or 302 when the canonical content remains live
Google documents an HTTP 301 or 302 redirect from a removed AMP URL to the canonical non-AMP page when that page still exists. A 301 communicates a permanent change and is the normal choice for a permanent AMP shutdown. A 302 is also documented and can be appropriate for a temporary transition or a staged test.
Map each URL, not just the domain
Construct redirects that preserve the article’s path and slug. For example, an old address such as /guide-to-backups/amp/ should resolve to /guide-to-backups/, not to the home page. Query-string variants need their own handling if your site used them. Preserve meaningful query parameters only when they are part of the canonical URL; do not create redirect chains by sending an AMP URL to an intermediate URL that redirects again.
| Legacy request | Desired result | Reason |
|---|---|---|
/post-name/amp/ |
One 301 or 302 to /post-name/ |
Maintains the matching content destination |
/post-name/?amp=1 |
One 301 or 302 to the canonical query-free URL, if that is the site’s canonical | Removes the AMP variant without duplicating parameters |
| AMP URL for a deleted article | 404 (or another deliberate removal response) when no replacement exists | A redirect to unrelated content misleads visitors and search engines |
Choose where the redirects run
A WordPress redirect plugin can maintain a URL map, which is convenient when editors need to add exceptions. Hosting, web-server, or CDN rules run before WordPress and are generally more resilient if the CMS is unavailable. WordPress.org support guidance recognizes either approach.
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Whichever layer you choose, document the rule order and test that a request is not caught by a more general redirect first. Keep the mapping close to the canonical URL list so future slug changes do not silently break it.
Test before switching every URL
Test while logged out, with a normal desktop user agent and a mobile user agent. Private browsing avoids an administrator session or browser cache hiding a problem.
- Request a representative AMP URL. Confirm the response is a single 301 or 302 when the canonical page remains live.
- Follow the destination. The final canonical URL should return HTTP 200 and display the intended content.
- Check for one-hop behavior. A chain such as AMP → old slug → new slug wastes crawl resources and increases failure points. Update the rule to point directly to the final URL.
- Inspect canonical source HTML. Verify that disabled pages no longer contain
rel="amphtml". - Test every URL family. Include trailing-slash and non-trailing-slash forms, query variants, archives, pagination, custom post types, and language or regional prefixes if they exist.
- Review logs and analytics. Look for unexpected 404 responses, redirect loops, spikes in 5xx errors, or traffic landing on the wrong canonical page.
For a large site, release the rules for one content group first. Expand only after those URLs consistently reach the correct 200 response.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why AMP pages can remain in Google after removal
Search visibility does not change the moment you deactivate a plugin. Google must recrawl the old AMP URLs, process the redirects or errors, and update its index. Google states that discovery of deleted AMP pages is delayed and does not provide a universal number of days.
During that period, you may still see AMP addresses in search results, Search Console reports, or cached references. That is not proof that AMP is still being generated. Check a live URL response and the canonical source HTML before changing the configuration again.
Use Search Console to:
- Inspect sample AMP URLs and confirm the live redirect or removal response.
- Watch indexed AMP URL trends rather than expecting an immediate drop.
- Review crawl and indexing reports for new 404, redirect, or server errors.
- Compare affected canonical pages for normal indexing and traffic.
Keep redirects in place for as long as users or crawlers continue requesting the old addresses. Removing them too early can turn a successfully migrated URL into a sudden 404.
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Troubleshoot common failure modes
The AMP plugin is off, but AMP pages still load
Another component may be generating them, or a page/CDN cache is serving an earlier response. Check the plugin list, theme and must-use code, host or CDN transforms, then purge caches and request the URL again while logged out.
Google reports AMP errors after the shutdown
Confirm that the old URL returns the intended 301 or 302 and that the destination returns 200. If the content has no replacement, use a deliberate 404 instead of redirecting to an unrelated page. Continue monitoring while Google recrawls.
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Canonical pages still advertise AMP
Search the raw source for amphtml. If the element remains, identify which integration inserts it. Removing only the visible AMP template is insufficient; the discovery link must also disappear for disabled content.
Visitors are redirected to the wrong article
Replace broad wildcard rules with explicit path-preserving mappings. Check slug changes, language prefixes, and trailing-slash behavior. A redirect should point to the equivalent canonical page, not whichever URL happens to be easiest to match.
A redirect loop appears
Inspect rules in every layer—CDN, web server, WordPress redirect plugin, and application code. Remove overlapping rules, ensure the canonical URL is excluded from the AMP match, and retest with caches bypassed.
Only mobile visitors see a problem
Recheck the former mobile-redirection setting and test with a mobile user agent. A device-specific rule may still send visitors to an AMP path even though desktop tests appear normal.
Operational checklist
- Identify the AMP generator and record its settings.
- Determine whether the site uses Standard, Transitional, or Reader mode.
- List affected content types and every AMP URL pattern.
- Choose full removal or selective disabling.
- Back up settings and prepare a rollback.
- Deactivate the generator, then uninstall it only after recording configuration.
- Remove
rel="amphtml"from canonical pages that no longer have AMP. - Publish direct 301 or 302 mappings for live replacement pages.
- Return 404 only when the underlying content is permanently gone and has no suitable replacement.
- Test logged-out desktop and mobile requests, one-hop redirects, 200 destinations, and all URL families.
- Monitor Search Console and server logs while Google recrawls.
Final decision: full removal or selective control?
Choose full removal when AMP adds maintenance work and every affected page can use the standard WordPress version. Choose selective control when a defined group of templates still depends on AMP and you can maintain separate rules for the content that remains. In either case, the SEO-safe migration is the same in principle: stop unwanted generation, remove stale discovery links, and send each former AMP URL to its exact canonical replacement.
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