Chykalophia Docs

Learn how to safely delete a WordPress user, handle their existing content, and revoke access for contractors, former staff, or Chykalophia when a project ends.

Removing a user from WordPress when someone leaves your team — or when a project with us ends — is an important security step. WordPress makes this straightforward, but there's one important decision to make first: what happens to the content that person created.

Quick summary

Go to Users → All Users, hover over the user, and click Delete. If they created any content, WordPress asks what to do with it: you can give it to another user or delete it. Choose "Attribute all content to another user" and pick yourself or a remaining team member — this is almost always the safer choice. If you delete the content instead, their posts and pages go to the Trash, but any media files they uploaded are deleted permanently.

What you'll need

Administrator access (only Administrators can remove users)
To have decided what to do with the user's content

Before you delete: the content question

When you delete a WordPress user who created posts, pages, media or other content, WordPress stops and asks: "What should be done with the content owned by this user?" You answer before the account is deleted.

You have two choices:

Attribute content to another user

All content the deleted user created gets reassigned to a different user you choose. On screen, this option reads "Attribute all content to another user."

This is almost always the right choice. Pages and posts remain visible on the site, and you retain the content.

Delete all content

The user's posts and pages go to the Trash, where WordPress keeps them for 30 days by default. Media files they uploaded, and some other types of content, are deleted permanently.

Only choose this if you're certain the user never created any content you want to keep. The deleted account itself can't be brought back.

Deleted content is hard to get back

If you choose to delete all content when removing a user, their posts and pages go to the Trash. You can restore them from there for 30 days by default, but they come back as drafts with no author. Their media files are deleted straight away, and only a backup can bring those back. When in doubt, attribute content to yourself — you can review and delete it later if needed.

How to remove a user

Go to Users → All Users in your dashboard. You'll see a list of all users on the site.

Find the user you want to remove. You can search by name or email using the search box.

Hover over their name and click "Delete." A confirmation screen appears.

Choose what to do with their content. Select "Attribute all content to another user" and choose yourself or another active team member (such as an Administrator or Editor) from the dropdown. This reassigns all their content. If the user has no content, WordPress says so and skips this question.

Click "Confirm Deletion." The user is removed immediately. They can no longer log in.

Access revoked immediately

As soon as you click Confirm Deletion, the account is gone. The person will be unable to log in from that moment forward.

Revoking Chykalophia's access after a project

When a project with us ends, you can revoke our access by removing the support@chykalophia.com user account using the steps above.

We recommend attributing our content to your own Administrator account so nothing is lost. If we've created pages, posts, or custom templates, they'll transfer cleanly.

You can also simply downgrade our role from Administrator to a lower role (like Subscriber) without deleting the account — this removes our ability to change your site without removing content attribution. (A Subscriber can still log in, but can only manage their own profile.) See how to change someone's role.

For a checklist of all the access you should revoke when a project ends, see how to revoke our access later.

Removing multiple users at once

If you need to remove several users at once:

Go to Users → All Users.

Check the boxes next to each user you want to remove.

From the "Bulk actions" dropdown at the top, select "Delete."

Click "Apply." The confirmation screen lists each selected user and asks about the content of each one who has any.

For each user, choose "Attribute all content to another user" and select a user to inherit the content. Click "Confirm Deletion."

What if you just want to temporarily suspend access?

WordPress doesn't have a built-in "suspend" or "deactivate" feature. Your options are:

Change their role to Subscriber. They can still log in but can't edit any content.
Change their password. This signs them out and stops them logging in with their old password, without deleting the account. They could still set a new password with Lost your password? if they can read the email address on the account, so change that address to one you control as well.
Delete the account (use the steps above).

If you need a proper account suspension feature — where a user can be frozen and reinstated later — ask us. A plugin can add this capability.

Common questions

I deleted a user without attributing their content. Now pages are missing. Can I get them back?

Check the Trash first. Go to Pages → All Pages (or Posts → All Posts) and click the Trash link at the top of the list. The deleted user's pages and posts stay there for 30 days by default, and you can restore them. They come back as drafts with no author, so assign a new author (for example with Quick Edit) and publish them again. See deleting & restoring pages and posts.

Media files, and anything no longer in the Trash, can only be recovered from a backup. Contact us immediately — if your site has automated backups (which it should), we may be able to restore the missing content. This is why keeping backups is so important. See how WordPress backups work.

The user I want to delete isn't showing up in the list. Why?

Check that you're an Administrator — only Administrators can see and manage all users. Also check if you're on a WordPress multisite network, which has different user management. Contact us if you can't locate the user.

Can I see what content a user created before deleting them?

Yes. On Users → All Users, the Posts column shows a count of each user's posts, but it doesn't count their drafts or pages; click the number to see their posts. You can also go to Posts → All Posts and click the user's name in the Author column to show only their posts. Do the same under Pages if needed. Review what they've created before you decide whether to attribute or delete.

What if the user is the only Administrator? Can I still delete them?

WordPress will not let you delete your own account while logged in as that account, and on a standard site only Administrators can delete users. So the Users screen won't let anyone delete the last remaining Administrator. Before removing an Administrator, make sure at least one other Administrator account will remain. If you're stuck, contact us — we can help you regain control.

Should I delete old, unused accounts or just leave them?

You should delete unused accounts. Every dormant account with a weak password is a potential security risk. Conduct a regular review of your user list (every six months is a good habit) and remove any accounts that are no longer needed.

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.

How to remove a user safely