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Updated Oct 2026

Delete media and use the Trash

Move media to the Trash when you want it gone. Items in the Trash are deleted for good after 30 days, or you can delete them right away.

Before you start

Some media is locked while a post that’s still pending or approved uses it. You can’t trash or archive a locked item. Edit the post to remove the image, or wait. The lock lifts once the post publishes, is rejected, or expires. See “If something goes wrong” below.

Items you added to a post from your library work differently. The post keeps its own copy, so the library item isn’t locked. You can trash it, and the post still has its image.

Trash vs. Archive

Both take media out of your everyday Library view, but they mean different things:

  • Archive keeps media until you delete it. Use it for media you want out of the way but might use again. Archived media is never deleted on its own.
  • Trash is for media you mean to delete. Anything in the Trash is deleted for good 30 days after you move it there, unless you restore it or delete it sooner.

Move media to the trash

  1. Go to the Media page.
  2. Find the item in the Library tab or the Archived tab.
  3. Select Trash for that item. On a computer, point at the tile, select the ⋯ button, then Trash. You can also open the item and select Trash there. On a phone, tap ⋯ next to the item’s name.
  4. The item moves to the Trash tab right away. You won’t be asked to confirm first. A message confirms the move and offers Undo for about 8 seconds.

The Trash tab

Select the Trash tab to see everything you’ve moved to the trash. While it holds anything, a banner at the top reminds you what’s coming:

Items in the trash are deleted permanently after 30 days.

When the Trash is empty, the same reminder shows in the empty space instead.

Restore an item

  1. Go to the Trash tab.
  2. Open the item and select Restore. On a phone, you can also tap ⋯ next to its name.
  3. The item moves back to the Library, even if it was archived before. You can use it again.

Delete an item right away

If you don’t want to wait the 30 days:

  1. Go to the Trash tab.

  2. Open the item and select Delete forever. On a phone, you can also tap ⋯ next to its name.

  3. Confirm the prompt:

    Permanently delete “{name}”? This can’t be undone.

  4. A message confirms it (“Deleted “{name}” permanently”), and the file is removed right away. A record of the item stays behind for your history. See “What “permanently” means” below.

Empty the trash

To delete everything in the trash at once:

  1. Go to the Trash tab.
  2. Select Empty trash.
  3. Confirm the prompt. It tells you how many items you’re about to lose.
  4. When it’s done, you’ll see a message like “Deleted 3 items permanently”. For one item it says “Deleted 1 item permanently”.

Files you uploaded on the Media page and never added to a post are shared by all your brands. So Empty trash in one brand also deletes those files if you trashed them while in another brand.

Do it for several items at once

You can trash, restore, or delete more than one item in a single step:

  1. Turn on Select above the media grid.
  2. Select each item you want. You can act on up to 50 at a time.
  3. Choose an action from the bar at the bottom of the screen. The choices depend on which tab you’re in:
    • Library: Archive, Trash
    • Archived: Unarchive, Trash
    • Trash: Restore, Delete forever
  4. Delete forever asks you to confirm first. The other actions confirm after, with a count (“Moved 3 items to the trash”). They offer Undo for about 8 seconds.
  5. Some items might not qualify. For example, one might still be in a pending post. The rest still go through, and a message tells you how many were skipped and why.

What “permanently” means

Deleting an item removes the file itself. That’s true for Delete forever, Empty trash, and the automatic 30-day cleanup. You can’t get the file back. A record that the item existed is kept for your history. It lets you trace what media a past post used, but the file is gone.

There are two cases where a copy of the file stays:

  • Images that already published. If a post went out with an image, that image is kept so the post’s record stays complete. You can open the post in History months later and still see exactly what went out. Deleting the item removes it from your Media library, and it stops showing up anywhere you pick images.
  • Items you added to a post from your library. The post keeps its own copy. Deleting the library item doesn’t touch it.

Storage

Media in the Trash still counts toward your storage until it’s deleted. Moving something to the trash doesn’t free up space by itself. Deleting it does, whether you delete it now, in bulk, or let the 30 days run out. A published image stops counting too, even though its published record is kept.

A post’s own copy of a library item is different. It keeps counting toward your storage after you delete the library item.

If something goes wrong

“Media is in the trash — restore it first”: You tried to archive an item that’s already in the trash. Restore it from the Trash tab first. Then archive it if that’s what you want.

“Media is not in the trash”: You tried to restore an item that isn’t in the trash. There’s nothing to do.

“Media has already been deleted”: You tried to trash or delete an item that’s already gone for good. It can’t be brought back.

“Media is attached to a pending or approved post”: A post that hasn’t published yet uses this item. Wait for that post to publish, reject it, or remove the image from it. Then try again.

“Media belongs to a group with pending or approved posts”: Same as above, but the item is the shared image for a whole post, not one platform version. Sort out that post before you trash or archive the item.

“N skipped: {reason}” (bulk actions): Some of the items you picked didn’t qualify. For example, one was still in an active post. The reason is shown, and the rest of your picks still went through.