When a post is deleted in Discourse, we perform a soft-delete. This means that post is still present in the database in case an administrator wants to recover it later. A soft-delete is not sufficient when the deleted post contains sensitive information and must be pruned from the database completely. For those situations, we are introducing the ability to permanently delete a post.
To use this feature, enable the can permanently delete setting. However, please be aware of the risks involved with this feature — as the setting name suggests, if you permanently delete a topic, post, or post revisions, there is no way to restore this content. As such, there are a few safeguards in place:
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When you enable the
can permanently deletesetting, we present a modal that asks for your explicit confirmation that you understand the risks:
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After initially deleting a topic (which is “soft delete” that can be reversed via the Un-Delete Topic button), you must wait 5 minutes before you can initiate a permanent deletion via the Permanently delete button. If you need to move faster, another admin can complete the permanent deletion immediately.
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After those 5 minutes have passed or if another admin is helping out, when you click the Permanently delete button we will present an additional confirmation modal that you must complete before proceeding:
