Your site's navigation lives in the Customizer, which keeps your site on one side of the screen and your settings on the other. That makes a menu easy to build: add the links you want, shuffle them into order, and watch every change land on your site before anything goes live.

## Before you start

- An administrator account for your site.
- The Customizer open in your browser: in your dashboard, go to **Appearance** then **Customize**.
- A theme that keeps its menus in the Customizer. If your site uses one of the newer block themes, WordPress will point you to the Site Editor instead.

## Steps

### Step 1: Open the menu you want to build

The **Menus** panel lists every menu your site already has, with a line under each one showing where it appears on your site. Select the menu you want to build to open it.

![Open the menu you want to build](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTg0NywicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--486f398d838c4204f2b9a43107a464b3adf5abb2/block_choose-your-menu.png)

### Step 2: Open the item library

Near the bottom of the menu, select **Add Items**. A library of everything you can link to slides in on the left, and your site stays on screen behind it.

![Open the item library](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTg3MCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--0a0968a5d0ee2390c51325d1c19f437b2590c453/block_add-items.png)

### Step 3: Choose what goes on the menu

Select any page in the **Pages** list to drop it onto your menu straight away. In a hurry? Type a few letters into **Search Menu Items** to find something specific, or open **Custom Links** to point at another site entirely.

![Choose what goes on the menu](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTg3MSwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--adb2f18a0f6d76f4ce9b78e6382defa64bfccc8a/block_pick-items.png)

### Step 4: Put the items in order and publish

Now for the fun part: drag an item up or down the list to put it where you want it. Select **Reorder** first if you would rather click the arrow buttons that appear on each item. When the preview looks right, select **Publish** at the top of the Customizer to make your menu live on your site.

![Put the items in order and publish](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTg3MiwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--3aec19164e3c09ad9aaa5e341ed4c5265fbba2d4/block_reorder-and-publish.png)

## Tips

- Drag an item slightly to the right to tuck it under the item above and turn it into a sub-item.
- Changes wait for you: close the Customizer without publishing and your menu will still be there, exactly as you left it, next time you open it.
- Not sure where a menu can go? **View All Locations** in the **Menus** panel shows every spot your theme offers.

## Summary

You built your menu with your site in view the whole way — add, arrange, publish. Whenever you want to change it, the **Menus** panel is waiting under **Appearance** then **Customize**.