Emoji Cleanup
Remove the WordPress emoji polyfill script, styles, and DNS prefetch to reduce page weight.
What Gets Removed
WordPress loads emoji support on every page, even if your site never uses emojis:
| Resource | Size | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
wp-emoji-release.min.js |
~15 KB | Emoji detection and rendering script |
Inline CSS (img.wp-smiley) |
~0.5 KB | Styling for emoji images |
DNS prefetch for s.w.org |
- | Pre-resolves the emoji CDN domain |
| TinyMCE emoji plugin | - | Emoji picker in the classic editor |
| Content filters | - | Converts text emoticons to images |
Why Remove It?
All modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) render emojis natively. The WordPress polyfill was needed years ago for older browsers that couldn't display emojis, but it's now unnecessary overhead on every page load.
What Still Works
- Emojis in your content still display correctly (handled by the browser)
- Emoji characters in titles, comments, and widgets work fine
- The only thing removed is the JavaScript polyfill and its associated resources
Zero Configuration
Emoji cleanup is always active. No settings needed.