# Deleting a post when within edit grace period
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 31, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036 "2019-03-31T03:01:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@seanblue](https://meta.discourse.org/u/seanblue)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036/1 "2019-03-31T03:01:05Z")
I have a quick question. There’s that grace period where you can edit your posts without it showing up in the edit history. Is there a reason (other than preventing accidental deletions) that _deleting_ a post within that grace period doesn’t delete it right away, as opposed to marking it for deletion in 24 hours?
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### Author:  [@Simsnet](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Simsnet)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036/2 "2019-03-31T03:04:01Z")
There is a short grace period for editing with no history, and a longer grace period for editing with public history report (anyone can see changes).
I personally feel that the 24hr delete time allows for anyone to view the topic for a short period before no one else can, or to allow forum staff to investigate any hateful msgs.
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### Author:  [@seanblue](https://meta.discourse.org/u/seanblue)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036/3 "2019-03-31T03:09:48Z")
> [@Simsnet](#):
>
> I personally feel that the 24hr delete time allows for anyone to view the topic for a short period before no one else can
It could also just be a deleted post. So a whole topic isn’t necessarily going to disappear.
> [@Simsnet](#):
>
> or to allow forum staff to investigate any hateful msgs
In my experience people tend to read the deleted message before it disappears. Sometimes people delete messages when they think more on what they just posted, but if the delete history is there people will still read it (allowing more people to read the hateful message, if that’s what it was). Maybe the posts could still be made visible to staff, but not regular users. 🤔
* * *
I’m not necessarily asking for the functionality to be changed by the way, I’m just curious what the reasoning was.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036/4 "2019-03-31T03:12:03Z")
The reasoning is that deleting posts is a great way to grief people.
Post “Hey you all suck and you’re idiots!” as a topic (for max visibility) then delete it before people can flag it.
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/deleting-a-post-when-within-edit-grace-period/113036/5 "2019-04-30T03:12:14Z")
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