How to Remove “Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group” from Your phpBB Forum

By default, phpBB forums display a footer credit line that says:
“Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group.”

While it’s a small line of text, some forum owners prefer to remove or customize it for branding purposes. However, before you proceed, it’s important to understand the implications.

⚠️ Important Disclaimer

phpBB is a free, open-source forum platform. In exchange for using the software freely, the developers request that you retain the footer credit as a form of acknowledgment. If you remove it:

• ❌ You may lose access to official support from the phpBB community.
• ✔️ You’re still allowed to modify the code, as per the GNU General Public License (GPL), but at your own responsibility.

🛠️ Steps to Remove or Customize the Footer Credit

If you still wish to remove or edit the “Powered by phpBB” line, follow these steps:

1. Access Your Website Files

You can use either of the following:

• FTP client (like FileZilla)
• File Manager in your web hosting cPanel

Navigate to your phpBB installation directory.

2. Go to the Styles Folder

Browse to:

/styles/prosilver/template/

🔄 If you’re using a different theme, replace “prosilver” with the name of your theme.

3. Edit the Footer Template

Locate the file:

overall_footer.html

Download and open it in any code or text editor (like VS Code, Sublime Text, or Notepad++).

4. Find and Remove the Credit Line

Look for code similar to this:

<!--
		We request you retain the full copyright notice below including the link to phpBB.com.
		This not only gives respect to the large amount of time given freely by the developers
		but also helps build interest, traffic and use of phpBB. If you (honestly) cannot retain
		the full copyright we ask you at least leave in place the "Powered by phpBB" line,
		with "phpBB" linked to https://www.phpbb.com. If you refuse to include even this then support on our forums may be affected.

		The phpBB Group : 2006
	-->
	<p class="copyright">
		Powered by <a href="https://www.phpbb.com/">phpBB</a>® Forum Software © phpBB Group
	</p>

You can either remove the entire <p> block or modify it as needed.

✅ Example (customized version):

<p class="copyright">
	Forum powered by YourForumName
</p>

5. Save and Upload the File

After editing, upload the modified overall_footer.html file back to the same directory.

6. Clear phpBB Cache

Go to your phpBB Admin Control Panel (ACP), then:

• Navigate to General > Purge the cache
• Click “Run now” to apply your changes

You can also manually delete the files inside the /cache/ folder (except index.html and .htaccess) if you prefer.

✅ That’s It!

Your phpBB forum will now reflect the updated footer — with no reference to phpBB if you removed it, or a custom version if you just tweaked the text.

🧠 Pro Tip:

Rather than removing credit entirely, consider customizing it in a more discreet or brand-friendly way to maintain goodwill with the phpBB project.