Deleting & restoring pages and posts
Learn how to safely delete pages and posts in WordPress and how to restore them from the trash if you change your mind.
Deleting a page or post in WordPress is not permanent right away. WordPress moves deleted content to the Trash first, where it stays for 30 days before being removed for good. This gives you a safety net to recover anything deleted by mistake.
Quick summary
Deleting a page or post moves it to the Trash — it's not gone yet. To restore it, go to the Trash, hover over the item, and click Restore. Content stays in the Trash for 30 days before WordPress removes it permanently.
What you'll need
Beginner 2–5 minutes- An Editor or Administrator role. Authors can delete their own posts but may not be able to restore them or empty the trash.
Delete a page or post
There are two ways to delete content: from the list view, or from inside the editor.
Go to Pages → All Pages (or Posts → All Posts).
Hover over the item you want to delete. A row of action links appears below the title.
Click Trash. The item disappears from the list and moves to the Trash.
You can also select multiple items using the checkboxes on the left, then use the Bulk actions dropdown at the top to move them all to Trash at once.
Open the page or post for editing.
Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the editor.
Click "Move to trash." The item is moved to the Trash and you are redirected to the All Pages or All Posts list.
Visitors can no longer see deleted content
As soon as you move a page or post to the Trash, it becomes inaccessible on the live site. Anyone visiting the old URL will see a "Not found" (404) error. If the page was linked from your navigation menu or other pages, those links will break immediately.
Restore a deleted page or post
Deleted content stays in the Trash for 30 days. During that time, you can restore it.
Go to Pages → All Pages (or Posts → All Posts).
Click the "Trash" filter link near the top of the list. This shows only items in the Trash.
Hover over the item you want to restore.
Click Restore. The item is moved back to its previous status (Published or Draft) and becomes accessible again.
Restored content goes back to its previous state
If a page was Published before you deleted it, it will be Published again after restoring. If it was a Draft, it will be a Draft again. Check the live site to confirm everything looks right.
Permanently delete content
If you want to permanently remove an item from the Trash before the 30-day period is up:
Go to the Trash view (Pages → All Pages → Trash).
Hover over the item and click Delete Permanently. This cannot be undone.
To empty the entire Trash at once, click Empty Trash at the top of the Trash view.
Permanent deletion cannot be undone
Once you permanently delete a page or post, it is gone from WordPress forever. There is no undo. The only way to recover it is from a full site backup. If you're unsure, leave it in the Trash — it won't affect your live site while it's there.
What happens after 30 days
WordPress automatically empties items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days. After that, the only way to recover the content is from a site backup. If you realize late that you need something, contact us right away — the sooner we check the backups, the better. See how WordPress backups work.
Things to check after deleting a published page
Deleting a published page can leave behind broken links and missing navigation items. Before you consider the deletion complete, check:
- Navigation menus. If the page was in your menu, remove it. Go to Appearance → Menus or use the site editor. See how to edit your navigation menu.
- Internal links. Other pages on your site may link to the deleted page. Search your content for links pointing to the old URL and update or remove them.
- SEO redirects. If the page had visitors or search traffic, ask your project lead to set up a redirect from the old URL to a relevant page. This prevents 404 errors.
Common questions
Related guides
- Undo mistakes with revisions
- Drafts, previews, and publishing
- How to edit your navigation menu
- How WordPress backups work
- How to duplicate a page
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