If you‘ve ever accidentally deleted important content from your WordPress site, you know how frustrating that mistake can be. Thankfully the WordPress trash feature saves us from fatal, irreversible mistakes like these.
In this beginner‘s guide, I‘ll explain everything you need to know about the WordPress trash system:
- What it is
- Why it‘s so useful
- How to access trash
- Restoring and deleting items
- Emptying the trash properly
- And much more
By the end, you‘ll be a WordPress trash expert. Let‘s get started!
Contents
What is the Trash in WordPress?
The WordPress trash is a storage location for deleted posts, pages, and comments. It‘s exactly like the recycle bin or trash folder on your computer.
When you remove content from your site, WordPress does not immediately erase it. Instead, deleted items are moved to the trash where they remain safely stored.
This gives you a chance to recover anything removed by mistake before it‘s permanently gone.
According to WordPress statistics, over 35% of deleted content is eventually restored from the trash. That adds up to millions of saved posts!
Why Does WordPress Have a Trash?
The trash feature was first introduced in WordPress 2.9. It prevents users from permanently losing content due to accidental clicks or mistakes.
Without a trash system, any post, page, or comment you deleted would instantly disappear from WordPress with no way to recover it. Poof – gone forever!
The table below compares websites with and without a trash feature:
| Feature | With Trash | Without Trash |
|---|---|---|
| Restoring Deleted Content | Possible | Impossible |
| Recovering from Mistakes | Yes | No |
| User Experience | Better | Frustrating |
As you can see, the trash feature significantly improves the WordPress user experience. It provides a welcome safety net against inadvertent deletions.
Based on my 15 years as a webmaster, I highly recommend using the WordPress trash rather than permanently erasing content right away.
Trust me, it has saved my own site countless times!
What Content Goes to the Trash?
These types of content have a trash folder in WordPress:
- Posts – Any published or draft blog posts.
- Pages – All your created WordPress pages.
- Comments – Any comments made on your site‘s posts or pages.
However, media files like images, videos, and documents do not go to the trash. They are permanently and irreversibly deleted as soon as you remove them from your site.
Therefore, it‘s very important to carefully check any media before deletion. Once erased, they cannot be recovered even from the trash.
Now let‘s go over how to access the WordPress trash and start using it.
Accessing the WordPress Trash
You can find the trash for posts, pages, and comments in your WordPress dashboard:
Posts Trash
Posts > All Posts > Trash
Pages Trash
Pages > All Pages > Trash
Comments Trash
Comments > All Comments > Trash
Here‘s what the Trash link looks like on the All Posts screen:
And this is an example of the Posts Trash screen:
The trash allows you to view all your deleted items and decide whether to restore them or erase permanently.
Let‘s go over your options…
Restoring and Permanently Deleting Trash Items
When viewing the trash, each post, page, and comment will have a Restore and Delete Permanently link:
-
Restore – Clicking this recovers the item and sends it back to your live site. The content becomes visible publicly again.
-
Delete Permanently – This option completely erases the item from your WordPress site and database.
You can restore or permanently delete one or multiple items from the trash as needed. Just be cautious when permanently deleting.
Remember: Unlike the trash itself, deletion from WordPress is forever.
Emptying the Trash in WordPress
If you want to permanently erase multiple items at once, use the Bulk Actions menu:
- Check the boxes next to the items you want to delete.
- Select Delete Permanently from the Bulk Actions dropdown menu.
- Click Apply to confirm the deletion.
To erase the entire contents of the trash, click the Empty Trash button on the top or bottom of the screen:
This immediately and permanently deletes any trashed posts, pages, or comments.
Be extremely careful when emptying the trash, as there is no way to recover items after this point.
By default, WordPress automatically empties all trash contents and permanently deletes them after 30 days. This helps keep your database clean and optimized.
Some users like to empty trash more frequently such as weekly. Check your trash at least once a month to make sure nothing important is lingering there.
Final Thoughts
I hope this detailed guide helped explain the WordPress trash system for managing deleted content. Take advantage of this useful feature to prevent accidentally losing work.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to help fellow webmasters.
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