# Disabled Uncategorized shows in category dropdowns

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/disabled-uncategorized-shows-in-category-dropdowns/370541
**Category:** Bug
**Created:** [June 17, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/disabled-uncategorized-shows-in-category-dropdowns/370541 "2025-06-17T15:54:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 19

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### Author: ![per1234](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/per1234/32/569645_2.png) [@per1234](https://meta.discourse.org/u/per1234)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/disabled-uncategorized-shows-in-category-dropdowns/370541/19 "2026-07-10T05:24:21Z")

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I verified that this is resolved by [DEV: remove and replace Uncategorized - Pull Request #41169 - discourse/discourse - GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/41169) ([Removing Uncategorized and migrating to a standard category](https://meta.discourse.org/t/removing-uncategorized-and-migrating-to-a-standard-category/406373)).

Kudos to `@sam` for looking beyond the specific faults described here to see the bigger picture of the unnecessary complexity introduced by having a special type of category that could just as well be served by a standard category.

* * *

Something that might be confusing is that the removal is controlled by a feature flag, which is only accessible if you have the old special Uncategorized category enabled:

> [@Removing Uncategorized and migrating to a standard category](https://meta.discourse.org/t/removing-uncategorized-and-migrating-to-a-standard-category/406373/1):
>
> To turn this on early, head to the **[Upcoming changes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-upcoming-changes-a-system-to-manage-new-features-and-changes-to-existing-functionality-in-your-community/392894)** page in your admin area (`/admin/config/upcoming-changes`) and find the **Remove and replace Uncategorized category** item. Update the **Enabled for** … field to opt your site in:
> 
> ![upcoming-change-enabled](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/8/f/0/8f0452b7ca18c7d8834e85907582d736fcca3ef4.png)
> 
> > **Note:** This upcoming change will only be visible to sites that currently have `allow uncategorized topics` enabled.

So if you have the `allow uncategorized topics` setting disabled, your forum will currently still be subject to the bug reported here, even after it has been updated to the version of Discourse that contains the [DEV: remove and replace Uncategorized - Pull Request #41169 - discourse/discourse - GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/pull/41169) changeset.

I was able to resolve the bug reported here on my forum by the following procedure:

1. Enable the `allow uncategorized topics` setting in the site settings.
2. Enable **Remove and replace Uncategorized category** in “ **Upcoming changes** ”.
3. Delete the “Uncategorized” category that was created as a result of step 2.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/disabled-uncategorized-shows-in-category-dropdowns/370541)._