How do I Delete a Category and Subcategory?

Product Support

AI-generated summary

In a support thread titled “How do I Delete a Category and Subcategory?”, HisFocus asks for help locating the Categories section in Discourse’s admin settings, noting they’re new to the platform and hosted by communiteq.com using the Air Theme. JammyDodger replies with step-by-step guidance: navigate to a category page (e.g., /c/general/4), click the wrench icon in the top right, and use the “delete category” button under the General tab. They also clarify that subcategories must be deleted first and all topics moved out (except the About category) before deletion is allowed. HisFocus initially struggles to delete a subcategory despite having no posts in it, but then reports success in post 4, explaining they used the wrench menu, searched for the subcategory via the category list on the top left, selected it, and deleted it. The thread ends with gratitude and resolution.

1

I have searched Google, here in the “Docs” section, and by searching globally on this site and I can’t find an answer to my question. Admittedly, I am brand new to Discourse, and I have even found several people (from a Google search), that tell me that there is a “Categories” section when clicking ADMIN > SETTINGS, but I can’t find a “Categories” tab or section anywhere. I’m being hosted by https://www.communiteq.com/, if that makes a difference, and I’m officially using the “Air Theme”. ANY help would be DEEPLY appreciated.

2

Hello and welcome @HisFocus :slight_smile:

You can delete categories and subcategories from their category wrench menu. If you navigate to a category (eg. /c/general/4) you should see the wrench in the top right:

category wrench
category wrench1398×406 23.3 KB

In there you should see the ‘delete category’ button on the general tab:

delete category
delete category1276×789 16.1 KB

You would need to delete any subcategories first, as well as move any existing topics into other categories (apart from the About one), before it will let you perform the delete.

Does that help?

3

Thank you SOOOOO much for your quick response, however, I can’t figure out how to delete a Sub-Category. I have no posts in the subcategory.

4

I figured it out! Thank you again, for you help! I clicked on the wrench like you said, then clicked on the list of categories on the top left and did a SEARCH for the name of the sub-category, selected it, and then deleted it.