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 by default 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. Restored content comes back as a draft, so publish it again if it should be live. Content stays in the Trash for 30 days by default before WordPress removes it permanently.

What you'll need

An Editor or Administrator role. Authors can trash and restore their own posts, but they can't manage pages or use Empty 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 choose Move to Trash from the Bulk actions dropdown at the top and click Apply to move them all at once.

Visitors can no longer see deleted content

As soon as you move a page or post to the Trash, it disappears from the live site. Anyone visiting the old URL will usually see a "Not found" (404) error. Links to it from your other pages break immediately. Menu items that point to the page are hidden from your live menu, but a menu link added as a custom URL will break.

Restore a deleted page or post

Deleted content stays in the Trash for 30 days by default. 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 leaves the Trash and comes back as a Draft, even if it was published before.

Publish it again if it should be live. Open the item, check it, and click Publish.

Restored content comes back as a draft

Since WordPress 5.6, restored pages and posts return as drafts by default. There is one exception: if you click Undo in the message that appears right after you trash something, the item goes back to its previous status straight away. After republishing, check the live site to confirm everything looks right.

Permanently delete content

If you want to permanently remove an item from the Trash before WordPress empties it automatically:

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. (Only Editors and Administrators see this button.)

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

By default, WordPress automatically deletes items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days. Your host or developer can change that number. 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. WordPress hides the menu item while the page is in the Trash, but a custom link to the page will still show and break. 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

I deleted a page by mistake and I can't find it in the Trash — where is it?

Check the correct content type — pages and posts have separate Trash bins. Make sure you're looking in the right place (Pages → All Pages → Trash vs Posts → All Posts → Trash). If it's not there, it may have already been permanently deleted. Contact us to check if it can be recovered from a backup.

Yes. WordPress hides a menu item that points to a trashed page, so visitors won't see a broken link for it. A link added to the menu as a custom URL is different: it stays and breaks. To keep things tidy, remove the page from your navigation menu first, then delete the page. See how to edit your navigation menu.

How do I take a page offline without deleting it?

You can switch it back to a draft, which hides it from visitors without deleting it. Open the page, open the settings sidebar, click the current value next to Status, and choose Draft. Click Save. Visitors will usually see a "Not found" error, but the content is safely preserved in WordPress. See drafts, previews, and publishing.

Will deleting a page affect my search engine rankings?

Yes, for that page. Once Google finds that a page returns a "not found" error, it removes the page from its search results, so any traffic it brought in stops. Until then, visitors coming from Google hit the error page. If the page ranked well, ask your project lead to set up a redirect before or immediately after deleting.

Can I undo an 'Empty Trash' action?

No. Once you empty the Trash or permanently delete an item, it cannot be undone from within WordPress. A backup restore is the only option. Contact us if this happens.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

Learn more

Page/Post Settings sidebar, including Move to trash — WordPress documentation