Deleting a page is straightforward: click onDelete in theTools menu on the page (this option is only visible to administrators), select a reason or enter a custom reason, and clickDelete page. Admins can likewise undelete pages, usually due to a request atWP:Requests for undeletion orWP:Deletion review. Since an undeletion isreversing another admin's action, keep in mind thatadministrative actions should not be reversed without good cause, careful thought, and (if likely to be objected to), where the administrator is presently available, a brief discussion with the administrator whose action is challenged. As with other administrator actions, all deletion-related actions arelogged.
In addition to the instructions for deletion and undeletion, this guide also covers using therevision deletion function to delete and undelete specific revisions. These instructions are primarily written for the Vector 2022 skin.
Deleting a page
Many pre-loaded deletion rationales are in the dropdown (screenshot from March 2008)
Click on theDelete link in theTools menu. This won't immediately delete the page—you'll review the deletion on a separate screen. (On someskins, this may be in theMore drop-down near the search box.)
Using theReason: menu, select a reason. There are preset reasons for speedy deletion and other common reasons. The default is "Other reason", for typing in a custom reason in theOther/additional reason: box. It is usually preferable to select a preset reason - if using a custom reason instead, make sure to link the relevant speedy deletion criterion or deletion discussion.
Click theDelete page button.
This deletes all revisions of the page.
Batch deletion
To delete all pages created by a particular user, useSpecial:Nuke. For other mass-deletion needs, use Twinkle's "D-batch" module (seetools). Remember that even if performing a batch deletion the burden is still on you to make sure all of the pages you are deleting in fact meet the criterion you use to delete them.
Click on theUndelete link in theTools menu. Alternatively, under the title, click onView or undelete [one] deleted edit? at the top of the deleted page. There may be more than one deleted edit.
You will now see all deleted revisions. Check the boxes next to the revisions you want to restore. To restore all, leave boxes unchecked.
Using theReason box, select a reason for undeletion from the dropdown menu (preferred) or type a custom reason in the box to explain why you're undeleting the page.
ClickUndelete.
The page will be undeleted.
Deleting a revision
For certain edits, like those withlibel or private information, a specific revision may need deletion. Familiarize yourself withcriteria for redaction before using this tool.
Click the tick boxes to the left of the timestamps for the revisions you wish to delete.
Click theChange visibility of selected revisions button that is above and to the right of the revision list. This will bring you to another screen.
Select the tick box fordelete revision text,delete edit summary, and/ordelete performer's username/IP address, depending on the amount of information you would like redacted.
Using theReason menu, select a revision deletion reason (preferred) or enter a custom reason.
Click theApply to selected revisions button to remove the revisions.
Review the article history to ensure the material has been deleted.
In some cases, you may also need request revision suppression. SeeWikipedia:Oversight for more information. Administrators may first revision delete, then request oversight viaSpecial:Emailuser/Oversight.
You may receive one or more warnings that some of what you're trying to revision delete has already been revision deleted if another administrator acts before you. You can generally ignore those warnings.
The navigation popups gadget effectively ignores revision deletion when hovering over "diff" links. To check whether the text of a revision has been revision deleted, you'll need to open it up.
It's also possible to delete the whole page and then undelete specific revisions, although this method is not commonly used.
To restore selected revisions without the edit to omit,select only the checkboxes of the needed revisions (tip: hold shift to select multiple checkboxes quickly).
Repeat steps5-6 ofUndeleting a page; only selected revisions will be restored.
Deleting files
You can delete files as you would any page by deleting the page itself. Under "File history", you can delete specific versions or change their visibility. If there's more than one revision, "Delete all" will delete all. You can't delete only the latest revision without deleting all older copies.
Twinkle – Allows you to delete a page and optionally its talk page, all the redirects to that page, and even unlink any links to that page. Ability to delete under multiple criteria is now supported
Batch-delete: Click on the "D-batch" link to activate Twinkle's batch delete feature, allowing you to delete multiple pages at once. The module loads all links on the current page and lets you select which ones to delete, along with options to also delete their talk pages, redirects to those pages, and removing links to those pages. Very useful for instance when closing a discussion atWP:AfD as delete, where you need to delete all pages in a category. You can also useSpecial:PrefixIndex to generate a list of subpages of a page, and then use D-batch to delete all of them.
CSDHelper - Allows to easily handle speedy deletion requests, both deleting and declining, with multiple customizing options.
SpamUserPage (WP:SUPG) – Allows you to delete a userspace page, block the user, and issue them with a block notice, all in one click, with options for types of blocks, deletion rationale, etc.
User:Mr. Stradivarius/gadgets/Draftify (WP:DFY) – allows you to move a userspace draft to the draft namespace without a redirect (deleting the userpage), tag the new draft with a draft template, and notify the user of your action
User:MPGuy2824/MoveToDraft – Allows you to move an article page to the draft namespace without leaving a redirect, tag the new draft with the draft template, and notify the user of your action. Forked fromUser:Evad37/MoveToDraft.
Special:Nuke – MediaWiki-provided tool to selectively delete all pages created by a user.
massrevdel – Similar script, allows raw entry of revision IDs in addition to using checkboxes, but cannot unhide revisions.
url-select-revdel – Helpful for responding toRD1 requests.{{copyvio-revdel}} will now have a link to open the history page with the relevant checkboxes already filled out.
