see only 5 recent posts in index page wordpress

Question

What do I need to do to see only 5 most recent posts in my index page on wordpress?

I have this loop:

 <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

and I tried to sweach it with that:

<?php
    $recentPosts = new WP_Query();
    $recentPosts->query('showposts=5');
?>
<?php while ($recentPosts->have_posts()) : $recentPosts->the_post(); ?>

and it only returned errors. What do I need to do?

Answer 1

Try this way instead:

<?php 
function five_posts_on_homepage( $query ) {
    if ( $query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query() ) {
        $query->set( 'posts_per_page', 5 );
    }
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'five_posts_on_homepage' );

if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();
?>

Answer 2

If there a particular reason you have to do it code? Otherwise, you really should just use the Admin Settings.

Under Settings -> Reading, there is a "Blog pages show at most" option where you can change it to 5 pages (see screenshot below).