The featured image and the excerpt are the two things WordPress shows alongside your post when it is listed somewhere other than its own page — on your blog's home page, in archives, and in feeds. Both live in the post editor's settings sidebar, and setting them takes about a minute.

## Before you start

- A post you want to update — a draft or something you have already published.
- An image in your Media Library, or one ready to upload from your computer.

## Steps

### Step 1: Open the post in the editor

In your dashboard, go to **Posts** and click the title of the post you want to update. It opens in the block editor.

![Open the post in the editor](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTMzOCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--9f4efc064dbcad5db371ae153c26e8ffe039e450/block_open-post.png)

### Step 2: Open the post settings

Click **Settings** in the top-right corner of the editor. The settings sidebar opens on the right, with the **Post** tab showing.

![Open the post settings](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTI0MSwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--6a2b3c069ecdb6309cd2fb59b5092f810f2708ec/block_open-post-settings.png)

### Step 3: Choose the featured image

In the sidebar, click **Set featured image**. Pick a picture from your **Media Library** — or upload a new one from the **Upload files** tab — and click **Set featured image** in the bottom-right corner.

![Choose the featured image](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTI4NSwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--a19784e7bd7cbe3c13a62606fe092caefd2f644c/block_set-featured-image.png)

### Step 4: Write the excerpt

Back in the sidebar, click **Add an excerpt** and type one or two sentences that sum up the post. Click anywhere else in the editor when you are done, and WordPress keeps what you wrote.

![Write the excerpt](https://wordpress.supportpages.io/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6OTMwNSwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--21c56a3a6c00147ebfba9ef7dc63c5989f29035a/block_write-the-excerpt.png)

Click **Save** at the top of the editor. Your post now carries the image and the summary everywhere it is listed.

## Tips

- The excerpt is the teaser that appears in archives, search results and feeds. It never replaces the opening paragraph on the post itself.
- Leaving the excerpt empty is fine — WordPress falls back to the first words of your post, so write one only when you want to control the teaser.
- Wide, landscape images work best, since most themes crop the featured image to a broad shape.

## Summary

Open the **Post** tab of the editor's settings sidebar, choose your featured image, write a short excerpt, then click **Save**. Your post now looks finished wherever it appears.