Most likely the search bar and categories components are missing from your WP theme template file. You can check the WP theme template file and look for the template include that should include the components.
Hi @sfm1320
If both the categories and the search bar disappeared at the same time, that usually means the area containing them is no longer being output, rather than the categories themselves being deleted.
A few things to check:
- Did this start after a theme change, widget/sidebar change, or plugin update?
- If you use a block theme, check Appearance > Editor and confirm the Search block and Categories/List block are still present in the relevant template or template part.
- If you use classic widgets, check Appearance > Widgets and confirm that those widgets are still assigned to the correct sidebar.
- Temporarily switch to a default theme or disable any recently changed plugin and test again.
If they return after switching theme or disabling a recent plugin, that will narrow it down quickly.
