Magento 2 Admin Menu

🧭 Magento 2 Admin Menu Overview

The Magento 2 Admin Menu is the main navigation bar that lets you control all aspects of your store. Located on the left-hand side of the admin panel, it offers quick access to sales, products, customers, content, reports, and system configuration.

This guide will help you understand the structure of the admin menu and even show you how to add your own custom items.

📂 Default Admin Menu Sections

Here are the main sections in the default Magento 2 admin menu:

  • Dashboard – Overview of orders, revenue, and customer stats.
  • Sales – Orders, invoices, shipments, and transactions.
  • Catalog – Products, categories, and attributes.
  • Customers – Manage customer accounts and groups.
  • Marketing – Promotions, SEO, email templates.
  • Content – CMS pages, static blocks, widgets, and design.
  • Reports – Sales, customer, and product reports.
  • Stores – Store configuration, currency, taxes, and more.
  • System – Cache, backups, permissions, and import/export.
  • Find Partners & Extensions – Access Magento Marketplace.

🛠️ How to Add a Custom Admin Menu Item

To add your own menu item in Magento 2, you need to create a menu.xml file in your module. Here’s a basic example:

🔧 Example: Adding a Custom Menu Item


<config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:module:Magento_Backend:etc/menu.xsd">
    <menu>
        <add id="Vendor_Module::menu"
             title="My Custom Menu"
             module="Vendor_Module"
             sortOrder="100"
             parent="Magento_Backend::content"
             resource="Vendor_Module::menu"/>
    </menu>
</config>

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✅ Result

This code adds a new menu item under the “Content” section. You can link it to a custom controller or admin page using your routes.xml and backend controller setup.

🔒 Controlling Menu Visibility

Menu items can be controlled by user permissions. The resource attribute in your menu XML should match an entry in your acl.xml file.

🔐 Example: ACL Entry


<acl xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:Acl/etc/acl.xsd">
    <resources>
        <resource id="Magento_Backend::admin">
            <resource id="Vendor_Module::menu" title="My Menu Access" sortOrder="10"/>
        </resource>
    </resources>
</acl>

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🎯 Conclusion

The Magento 2 Admin Menu is your daily companion for managing your store. Understanding its structure helps you navigate more efficiently. For developers, creating custom admin menu items adds powerful new features to the backend.

Now you know how to explore, use, and expand the Magento 2 Admin Menu—go build something awesome!