How to Fix Render-Blocking Resources in WordPress and Improve Your Site Speed

If you’ve ever tested your website on PageSpeed Insights, you’ve probably seen the warning about render blocking resources WordPress adds through themes, plugins, and scripts. This issue is extremely common, and it’s one of the biggest reasons websites load slowly. The good news? You can fix it—even if you’re not a developer.

This guide explains what render-blocking resources are, why they slow down your WordPress site, and the most effective ways to eliminate render-blocking resources WordPress generates.

What Are Render-Blocking Resources?

Whenever someone opens your website, their browser starts reading the page’s code from top to bottom. If it comes across CSS and JavaScript files in the header, it must stop and load them before it can show anything to the user. These files are known as render-blocking resources.

In simple words:
They delay the moment your visitors can actually see your website.

Most WordPress websites have many of these files because:

• Themes include multiple CSS files

• Page builders load huge amounts of styles and scripts

• Plugins load global assets even when not needed

• External fonts and icons require extra requests

• Analytics and marketing scripts load before content

All this adds up and slows down your loading time.

How Render-Blocking Resources Affect Your Website

Render-blocking resources do more harm than you might think. Even a few heavy CSS or JS files can impact:

1. Page Load Speed

Your site feels slower and takes longer to display content, especially on mobile.

2. Core Web Vitals

Metrics like FCP, LCP, and CLS suffer, which directly affects your Google rankings.

3. User Experience

Visitors become impatient, bounce away, and rarely return to a slow site.

4. SEO Performance

Google ranks fast websites higher because they offer a better experience.

Removing or optimizing these render-blocking files can make your website feel instantly faster.

How to Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources in WordPress

Now that you know the problem, let’s look at the solutions. These methods are safe, beginner-friendly, and widely used by WordPress professionals.

1. Use a Performance Optimization Plugin

This is the easiest and most effective way to fix render-blocking issues.

Some of the best plugins include:

• WP Rocket

• LiteSpeed Cache

• Autoptimize

• FlyingPress

These plugins help by:

• Minifying CSS & JS

• Combining multiple files

• Delaying JavaScript execution

• Optimizing CSS delivery

• Preloading important resources

With just a few clicks, most render-blocking issues disappear.

2. Defer or Async JavaScript Files

JavaScript is often the main cause of render-blocking. You can tell the browser to load JS files after the page is visible by applying:

• Async – loads files independently

• Defer – loads files after the main page loads

Plugins like Autoptimize and WP Rocket let you enable these settings easily.

3. Optimize CSS Delivery

CSS files control your website’s styling. But when they are large or poorly organized, they delay your page from rendering.

You can optimize your CSS by:

• Generating critical CSS

• Inlining essential styles

• Loading non-critical CSS later

• Removing unused CSS

• Reducing large theme or page builder CSS files

Critical CSS ensures your above-the-fold section loads instantly.

4. Remove Unnecessary CSS and JS From Plugins

Many plugins load their assets everywhere—even on pages where they are not used. This is a major cause of render-blocking.

For example:

• Contact form plugins loading scripts on non-contact pages

• Sliders loading assets on pages without sliders

• WooCommerce loading scripts on blogs

• Popup plugins loading scripts sitewide

You can stop this using tools like:

• Perfmatters

• Asset CleanUp

These plugins let you disable CSS/JS on specific pages, significantly reducing render-blocking files.

5. Choose a Lightweight Theme

Themes play a huge role in loading speed. Heavy themes load unnecessary assets, which lead to render-blocking issues.

Lightweight themes include:

• Astra

• GeneratePress

• Kadence

• Blocksy

These are optimized for speed and performance out of the box.

6. Reduce Plugin Usage

More plugins usually mean more scripts. If your site has 25+ plugins, it’s likely suffering from render-blocking issues.

Do a quick cleanup:

• Remove unused plugins

• Replace heavy plugins with lightweight alternatives

• Avoid unnecessary page builder add-ons

The fewer scripts your site loads, the faster it becomes.

Final Thoughts

Render-blocking resources are one of the biggest reasons WordPress websites slow down. But with the right tools and techniques, you can eliminate render-blocking resources WordPress loads and dramatically boost your site’s speed. Whether you use optimization plugins, remove unused assets, or switch to a lightweight theme, each step helps your site load faster and perform better.