Applies to WordPress 7.0 and 7.1. Last verified: September 23, 2026, against WordPress 7.1.2.
Short answer: the new WordPress core blocks 7.0 added on May 20, 2026 are Breadcrumbs, Icon, a new Heading block with a variation for every heading level, and Navigation Overlay Close for menu overlays. WordPress 7.1, released August 19, 2026, added Tabs and Playlist. Together they can take over jobs that used to need a breadcrumb, icon, tabs or audio player plugin. A Table of Contents block is not among them yet.
If new items keep appearing in your block inserter and you are not sure what they are for, this is the list, with the one question that matters for each: which plugin job can it take over, and what is the catch.
Every block and setting below comes from WordPress.org documentation and Make WordPress Core posts, read on September 23, 2026. The WordPress 7.0 Field Guide, published on Make WordPress Core on May 14, 2026, states that "a new Heading block, Icons block, and Breadcrumbs block are shipped with 7.0." This page describes what that documentation shows. It does not report tests of our own.
The new WordPress core blocks 7.0 introduced, plus the two from 7.1
| Block | Arrived in | How to insert it | Plugin job it can take over | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breadcrumbs | 7.0 | /breadcrumbs or a template in the Site Editor |
Breadcrumb trails from a plugin or theme | Shows one term per level on posts |
| Icon | 7.0 | /icon |
Simple icons from an icon plugin | Old plugin icons do not convert |
| Heading (level variations) | 7.0 | /h1 to /h6 |
None | A speed-up, not a replacement |
| Navigation Overlay Close | 7.0 | Inside a navigation overlay | Custom close buttons on mobile menus | Needs a theme that supports the Navigation block |
| Playlist | 7.1 | /playlist |
Audio playlist plugins | Audio only |
| Tabs | 7.1 | /tabs |
Tabs plugins and builder tab widgets | Covered in its own guide |
To see which version you run, go to Dashboard > Updates. Tabs and Playlist need 7.1 or later. WordPress.org's release archive lists 7.1.2, released September 22, 2026, as the newest version.
Breadcrumbs: the block most likely to retire a plugin
The Breadcrumbs block shows a trail of links from your homepage to the current page. WordPress.org's documentation (published May 20, 2026, updated June 16, 2026) describes how it builds that trail:
- Pages follow the page hierarchy. A page with a parent page shows that parent in the trail.
- Posts have no parents, so the trail uses categories or tags instead, for example Home / Technology / Your Post Title.
- Archives, search results and 404 pages also get a trail, and custom post types include their post type archive.
To add it to a single post or page:
- Open the post in the editor.
- Type
/breadcrumbsand press Enter, or search "Breadcrumbs" in the Block Inserter (+). - Open the Settings sidebar with the button next to Save or Publish.
- Set Show home breadcrumb, Show current breadcrumb and the Separator character (the default is a slash).
To show it across the whole site, place it in a template or template part in the Site Editor instead. Under Advanced, Show on homepage only matters when the block sits in a template the homepage uses, and Prefer taxonomy terms switches hierarchical post types from the page hierarchy to their category-style terms.
The catch: when a post has several categories at the same level, the documentation says only the first one listed appears. The block's documentation also describes the visible trail and nothing else. If your current breadcrumbs come from a plugin that does more than draw a trail, check what else it does before you switch.
Icon: SVG icons without an icon plugin
The Icon block adds a scalable SVG icon from a built-in library to a page, post, template or template part. Type /icon, pick an icon, and use Replace in the toolbar to swap it later.
The sidebar has two tabs. Settings holds Label, which describes the icon for screen reader users. WordPress says to leave it blank for purely decorative icons. Styles holds Color (icon and background), Dimensions (width, padding, margin) and Border. The documentation was updated for 7.1 on August 20, 2026 to add Flip horizontal, Flip vertical and Rotate to the toolbar.
WordPress 7.1 also made the SVG Icon API public, so plugin and theme developers can register their own icon collections for the editor. That is a developer feature, not a setting you switch on in wp-admin.
The catch: icons your current plugin inserted through its own block or shortcode stay as they are. Nothing in the documentation describes converting them, so each one is a manual rebuild.
Heading: faster, not a replacement
The Heading block itself is not new. What 7.0 added, per the Field Guide, is a variation for every heading level plus easy toggling and quick transforms. The Heading block documentation, updated for 7.0, shows you can type /h2 or /h3 and press Enter to get that level directly, or type ## and a space at the start of a new line. Change the level later with Transform in the toolbar or the H1 to H6 buttons in the sidebar.
Nothing to uninstall here. It just saves clicks.
Navigation overlays and the Navigation Overlay Close block
The 7.0 release announcement says you can now "design and build your menu overlay with blocks and patterns." The Field Guide adds "a dedicated Navigation Overlay Close block for placing and styling a close button anywhere within the overlay." In plain terms, the menu overlay that opens from the menu icon on small screens can now be designed like any other block area.
Two limits apply. The Navigation block works with block themes, or with themes that support template editing. And as of September 23, 2026, the WordPress.org Navigation block documentation (last updated May 25, 2026) does not yet walk through overlays step by step, so the Field Guide and the release announcement are the official descriptions.
Playlist (7.1): an audio player without a plugin
The Playlist block puts several audio tracks into one player with a waveform view. The WordPress.org documentation (published August 19, 2026) lists WordPress 7.1 or later as the requirement.
- Type
/playlistand press Enter. - Upload audio files or choose them from the Media Library. Each file becomes a track.
- In Settings, choose Play order (listed or shuffled) and toggle Show images, Show artist, Show track numbers and Show track length.
- In the Color panel, set Waveform and Waveform background. Both accept gradients.
Track titles, artists and lengths come from each file's metadata and its Media Library fields, so fix those first. Artwork appears only when an image is attached to the audio file.
The older shortcode is a separate feature. WordPress's code reference lists its function as available since version 3.9, so the new block sits alongside it rather than replacing it.
Tabs (7.1)
Tabs is the other 7.1 arrival. Setup, the nested structure and what it still cannot do are covered in our guide to the Tabs block in core.
Two 7.0 upgrades that are not new blocks but still retire plugins
Gallery lightbox. The Field Guide lists lightbox support with a slideshow option as a 7.0 Gallery change. Select a Gallery block, open Link in the toolbar and choose Enlarge on click. Visitors can then open images in a larger view and move forward and backward through them without leaving the page. Navigation button type in the sidebar sets those controls to Icon, Text or Both. That covers the core job of many lightbox plugins.
Hide blocks by device. 7.0 lets you hide a block on mobile, tablet or desktop from the block toolbar, List View or the command palette. Make WordPress Core's March 15, 2026 post on the feature notes two things worth knowing. Hidden blocks are still in the page's HTML, because the hiding happens in CSS. And the Custom HTML block cannot use it. WordPress 7.1 lets theme authors set their own breakpoints in theme.json.
CSS for one block. A block's Advanced panel now includes Additional CSS, scoped to that block. Small snippets that once went into a custom CSS plugin can live on the block that needs them.
What did not arrive: Table of Contents
If you were waiting for a native Table of Contents block, it is not one of the blocks 7.1 announced. The Roadmap to 7.2, posted on Make WordPress Core on September 18, 2026 and read on September 23, 2026, lists taking "the long-experimental Table of Contents block stable" as 7.2 work. The same roadmap names a new Description List block and finishing keyword search in the Icon block. It gives early December 2026 as the target for 7.2. Roadmaps change, so treat all three as planned, not promised.
Keep your table of contents plugin until a stable block actually ships and you have compared the two.
Before you delete the plugin a new block replaces
A new core block does not change any content your plugin already made. Removing the plugin can. Follow this order:
- Take a backup you have checked. Our five-minute ritual before any risky WordPress edit covers the minimum.
- Find where the plugin's output lives. Search your posts for its shortcodes and look for its blocks in List View on your busiest pages.
- Rebuild one page with the core block and compare it with the old version on a phone and a desktop.
- Deactivate before you delete. Deactivation is reversible. Then check the pages from step 2.
- Delete only when nothing broke. Read what happens to your content when you delete the plugin first, because leftover shortcodes show up as raw text.
If the core block does most, but not all, of what the plugin does, our guide to deciding between a core feature and a plugin walks through whether the missing part matters to you.
What these blocks still cannot do
This is the part most release overviews skip:
- No automatic migration. None of the block documentation describes importing content from a plugin. Every replacement is a rebuild.
- Breadcrumbs pick one term. Posts with several categories at the same level show only the first one listed.
- Hidden is not removed. A block hidden on mobile still sits in the HTML, so never use device hiding for anything private.
- Overlays depend on your theme. Navigation overlays live inside the Navigation block, which needs a block theme or template-editing support.
- Icon search is unfinished. The 7.2 roadmap lists completing keyword search in the Icon block as open work.
FAQ
What new blocks came with WordPress 7.0?
WordPress 7.0, released May 20, 2026, added the Breadcrumbs, Icon and Navigation Overlay Close blocks, plus a new Heading block with a variation for each heading level. It also added a Gallery lightbox slideshow and per-device block hiding, which are upgrades rather than new blocks.
Is there a Table of Contents block in WordPress core?
Not as a stable block as of WordPress 7.1.2. Make WordPress Core's Roadmap to 7.2, dated September 18, 2026, lists making the experimental Table of Contents block stable as 7.2 work, with 7.2 targeted for early December 2026.
Will my plugin's icons or breadcrumbs turn into the new blocks automatically?
No. WordPress.org's documentation for the new blocks describes no conversion from plugin content. Plan on rebuilding each instance, and keep the plugin active until you have.
Why can't I find Tabs or Playlist in my inserter?
Both need WordPress 7.1 or later. Check your version under Dashboard > Updates. If you run 7.1 and still cannot find them, check whether the block was hidden from the inserter in the editor's Preferences.
