How to Get the Featured Image in WordPress (PHP Examples)

To get the featured image of a WordPress post with PHP, use one of three core functions depending on what you need:

// The full <img> tag (easiest, drop into the loop)
the_post_thumbnail( 'large' );

// Just the URL as a string
$url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( get_the_ID(), 'large' );

// Just the attachment ID
$id = get_post_thumbnail_id( get_the_ID() );

Below I’ll cover all the common variations: displaying as a responsive <img> tag, grabbing just the URL for CSS or srcset, getting the attachment ID for advanced use, checking whether a post even has a featured image, and a handful of edge cases (alt text, captions, fallback images, custom image sizes).

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Before you start: make sure featured images are enabled

If the “Featured image” panel isn’t showing in the block editor, your theme hasn’t declared support for post thumbnails. Add this to your theme’s functions.php (or a child theme’s functions.php). It uses the after_setup_theme action hook to register support for post thumbnails:

add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function() {
    add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );
} );

Most modern themes (including Hello Elementor, Twenty Twenty-Four, Kadence, and Astra) already enable this. You only need to add it when building a theme from scratch or using a stripped-down starter theme.

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Method 1: Display the featured image as an <img> tag

the_post_thumbnail() echoes a full <img> tag (with srcset, sizes, alt text, and proper classes baked in). Inside the loop, this is a one-liner:

// Inside the loop
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {
    the_post_thumbnail( 'large' );
}

// With custom attributes (class, alt override, loading, etc.)
the_post_thumbnail( 'large', array(
    'class'   => 'hero-image',
    'alt'     => esc_attr( get_the_title() ),
    'loading' => 'lazy',
) );

If you need the HTML as a string (to concatenate or pass around), use get_the_post_thumbnail() instead. Same arguments, but it returns the markup rather than echoing it.

$thumbnail_html = get_the_post_thumbnail( get_the_ID(), 'large' );
echo $thumbnail_html;

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Method 2: Get just the featured image URL

When you only need the URL (for a CSS background, an Open Graph tag, a custom image component, or a JSON API response), get_the_post_thumbnail_url() returns a plain string:

// Current post, large size
$url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( get_the_ID(), 'large' );

// Specific post by ID, full size
$url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( 42, 'full' );

// Inside the loop, default (post-thumbnail) size
$url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url();

echo esc_url( $url );

Returns false if the post has no featured image, so check for it before echoing. Available since WordPress 4.4 (2015), so effectively everywhere at this point.

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Method 3: Get the featured image ID

The featured image ID is just the attachment ID of the media library item WordPress is using. You need it when you want to call other WordPress functions that take an attachment ID (wp_get_attachment_image_src(), wp_get_attachment_metadata(), get_post_meta(), etc.):

$thumbnail_id = get_post_thumbnail_id( get_the_ID() );

// Example: get the image at an arbitrary size as an array
// Returns [ url, width, height, is_intermediate ]
$image = wp_get_attachment_image_src( $thumbnail_id, 'full' );
if ( $image ) {
    $url    = $image[0];
    $width  = $image[1];
    $height = $image[2];
}

// Example: read the image's alt text from the media library
$alt = get_post_meta( $thumbnail_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true );

Returns 0 if there’s no featured image, so either check the return value or use has_post_thumbnail() first.

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Method 4: Check if a post has a featured image (with fallback)

has_post_thumbnail() returns a simple boolean. Use it to guard against empty states and to swap in a fallback image:

if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {
    the_post_thumbnail( 'large' );
} else {
    // Fallback to a default image in your theme
    printf(
        '<img src="%s" alt="" loading="lazy" />',
        esc_url( get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/default-featured.jpg' )
    );
}

Good rule: every template that displays a featured image should handle the “no image” case. Either a fallback, a different layout, or skipping the image container entirely. A broken <img> tag with no src is the worst outcome.

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Method 5: Use the featured image as a CSS background

For hero sections, card overlays, and anywhere a CSS background image is cleaner than an <img>, grab the URL and drop it into an inline style:

<?php
$featured_url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( get_the_ID(), 'large' );

if ( $featured_url ) :
?>
    <section
        class="post-hero"
        style="background-image: url('<?php echo esc_url( $featured_url ); ?>');">
        <h1><?php the_title(); ?></h1>
    </section>
<?php endif; ?>

For multiple breakpoint sizes, use image-set() in your CSS with different sizes pulled via wp_get_attachment_image_src(). Don’t use full on a hero unless you actually want the original upload (often 2000px+ wide). Pick a size that matches the rendered container.

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Featured image sizes (and picking the right one)

Every featured image function accepts a size keyword as the second argument. The built-in sizes:

Size keyword	Default dimensions	Typical use
thumbnail	150 × 150 (cropped)	Small avatar-style lists
medium	300 × 300 max	Sidebar thumbnails
medium_large	768 × any	Card grids
large	1024 × 1024 max	Most post heroes
full	Original upload	Only when you need the raw image
post-thumbnail	Theme-defined	Theme’s declared default size

You can also register custom sizes in functions.php:

add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function() {
    add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

    // Hard-cropped 1200x630 for social cards and hero images
    add_image_size( 'hero', 1200, 630, true );

    // Proportional 400-wide for card grids
    add_image_size( 'card', 400, 9999, false );
} );

After registering a new size, regenerate existing images with the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin or wp media regenerate via WP-CLI. New sizes only apply to images uploaded after the declaration.

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Frequently asked questions

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Bottom line

For display in the loop, the_post_thumbnail( 'large' ) is the one-liner to reach for. When you need the URL as a string, get_the_post_thumbnail_url( $id, 'large' ). When you need the attachment ID for downstream calls, get_post_thumbnail_id( $id ). Always guard with has_post_thumbnail() and provide a fallback so your templates don’t break on posts without an image.

Related: how to get a post ID, get the post title, get the current page slug, or browse the full WordPress code snippets library.