# Does deleting a category delete all the posts in that category?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-deleting-a-category-delete-all-the-posts-in-that-category/158709
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [July 24, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-deleting-a-category-delete-all-the-posts-in-that-category/158709 "2020-07-24T17:19:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![MichelleBarnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MichelleBarnett](https://meta.discourse.org/u/MichelleBarnett)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-deleting-a-category-delete-all-the-posts-in-that-category/158709/1 "2020-07-24T17:19:44Z")

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If a category has a bunch of posts in it, and I delete that category, what happens to the posts? Do they get deleted too or do they automatically move to ‘Uncategorized’ or ‘Archive’?

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### Author: ![simon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/simon/32/339122_2.png) [@simon](https://meta.discourse.org/u/simon)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-deleting-a-category-delete-all-the-posts-in-that-category/158709/2 "2020-07-24T17:33:34Z")

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It is not possible to delete a category that has topics in it. If you try to do that, you will see a popup error message:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/0/d/0d092a00f70081b086047693aec0fbe0b409dcba.png)

You need to re-categorize a category’s topics before you can delete the category. The easiest way to re-categorize the topics is to click the bulk selection button from the category’s topic list and select the topics that you want to move:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/f/a/fa3af0d30a77947a7e7c0781c5dfbe1b61c8e39c.png)

Once you have selected the topics, click the Bulk Actions admin wrench:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/9/a/9a508351e03f5810c2133cb5cfe8ef7050c0e209.png)

In the modal window that opens, select “Set Category”:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/0/e/0eb70a36a01268ece39bb5e51f4cbaa00839d356.png)

A new modal window will open that allows you to set a new category for the topics. You’ll see in my screenshot above that I did not move the “About the board games category” topic. The “About” topic is a special topic that is automatically created by Discourse for each category. You do not need to remove this topic before deleting the category.