How to Bulk Delete WordPress Posts and Pages: A Quick Guide

It is important to keep your site clean and updated by deleting/removing outdated posts and pages that no longer drive conversions. Search engines love new and updated content that is more likely to convert.

However, deleting posts one by one is very time-consuming and frustrating. So how do you bulk delete posts/pages in WordPress and WooCommerce?

Without wasting time, let us dig in a little deeper and know the exact way of bulk deleting posts and pages in two simple ways – the default WordPress way and by using an advanced WordPress bulk edit plugin.

Why delete posts and pages in WordPress?

Whether you are a blogger or marketer using WordPress or running a WooCommerce store, here’s why you need to finally bid adieu to some posts and pages:

The content could be outdated, no longer accurate or relevant.
Posts that are similar to other posts on the website or duplicate content.
Shifts in content strategy that requires a different direction for the brand’s online presence.
Content that no longer aligns with your brand’s messaging.
Previously developed sales pages and blogs for products that have been removed from the brand’s offering.
Posts and pages that do not attract traffic or have very few clicks.
Merging similar content and redirection for SEO purposes.
Deleting older content and posting fresh content to improve the user experience and navigation.
Legal or copyright issues with the content.
Website redesigning.
Pages or posts that are created primarily for testing purposes.

We know it takes a lot of effort to create quality content. But for the array of benefits that it brings, some of it needs to face the axe. We did it too for our content with a heavy heart.

Now the reasons being clear, let’s dig into deleting posts and pages using two ways.

Deleting WordPress posts and pages the default way

Follow these quick steps to delete a few posts and pages using the WordPress default way:

Deleting posts in WordPress

Log in to your WordPress account.
On the admin dashboard, navigate to Posts > All Posts and hover over the post you want to delete. Out of all the options including Edit, Quick Edit, Trash and View, click on Trash.
The post will be automatically moved to the trash section, from where it can either be restored or permanently deleted.

Deleting pages in WordPress

Repeat the same steps above for pages, just that ‘Posts’ will be replaced with ‘Pages’.

As you can see, this way, you could delete only one post or page. If you have hundreds and thousands of them, it will be a nightmare.

So, WordPress also provides an option to bulk delete WordPress posts and pages but with a few drawbacks. More on that in the points to follow, but first let’s discuss the process in detail.

Deleting WordPress posts in bulk

There is a check box on the left side of every post on the dashboard.
Check the boxes next to the posts you want to bulk delete.
In the header bar, click the dropdown under Bulk Actions and select Move to Trash.
Click on Apply.
The posts are then automatically moved to the trash section, from where they can be restored or permanently deleted if needed.

bulk delete WordPress posts pages the default way

Deleting WordPress pages in bulk

Similar steps apply to bulk deleting pages. The only thing is that ‘Posts’ will be replaced with ‘Pages’.

Drawbacks of the default WordPress way

Despite endless practical advantages, the WordPress bulk delete feature can be time-consuming and complex:

You will find it tedious and frustrating to delete hundreds of posts and pages individually.
Limited filtering options and difficult to edit/select.
Site loading is slow if there are many posts, and the user experience is not great.

To take advantage of this method, you must either have less content, fewer posts or pages or have the time to select and delete each one individually.

So, if you are wondering how to bulk manage, edit, or delete hundreds of posts, pages and WooCommerce products and also remove/assign categories in bulk within minutes from one place, here’s an awesome solution for you.

How to bulk delete WordPress posts and pages using a spreadsheet?

Another way to delete thousands of posts and pages is with the Smart Manager plugin.

Smart Manager is a powerful plugin that lets you easily manage your WooCommerce store with an Excel-like spreadsheet.

It helps you manage posts and pages and edit them in bulk – adding, deleting or updating them.

Additionally, you can bulk edit products, orders, coupons, users and any other WordPress post type and custom taxonomies. Each post type has its dashboard where details can be edited, filtered and deleted.

It is also possible to delete all products if you wish to revamp the collection or upgrade your store by removing dead stock.

Bulk delete posts using Smart Manager

Go to WordPress Admin panel > Smart Manager and select the Posts dashboard from the drop-down.
Select the header checkbox to select all the posts. Or select only those posts that you want to delete. Use advanced search to find your desired posts quickly. For example, search for posts based on categories, tags, keywords, status and other filters. Smart Manager will fetch exact results for you.
Click on the Delete icon. It will show two options – Move to Trash and Delete Permanently. Choose your desired option.

It’s that simple! Following these simple steps will save you hours of work and ensure that you delete unnecessary posts in a matter of seconds.

Try the live demo and see for yourself.

Bulk delete pages using Smart Manager

You can bulk delete pages using the similar steps mentioned above. All you need to do is to replace the ‘Posts’ dashboard with the ‘Pages’ dashboard.

If you wish to revamp or polish up your amazing online store, you now know how to delete posts and pages. Work smarter to save time!

Smart Manager also allows you to bulk edit posts and pages. Users can make the changes in bulk to status, title, content, categories, tags, SEO status, keywords and a lot more.

Additional benefits of Smart Manager

There’s more to Smart Manager than bulk edits and bulk deletions.

Use inline editing to edit fields easily in the spreadsheet. Create, remove, or update many items at once directly from the grid.
Using the duplicate feature, you can make a copy of all records or selected records.
Easily export unlimited CSV data based on date, search or columns at any time.
Set up custom views with data that you want to manage and edit frequently.
Control and add dashboard access to any user role and specific user email.
Bulk stock management helps you update stock quantities, and set and modify sales and regular prices.
Smart Manager makes bookings, product add-ons, and memberships easy to work with. Use the same Excel-like interface to view, manage and bulk edit all custom post types and custom taxonomies.
Updating featured images, and product gallery images using the media library directly from the spreadsheet.
Deleting and duplicating based on filters such as test products, permanently and moving to trash.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has cleared up any confusion you might have regarding deleting posts and pages with the default WordPress feature versus deleting hundreds of posts and pages at once with a smart plugin.

In case you have simply started up your online business and would like to get rid of unnecessary posts and pages, you can use the default WordPress feature.

But if you are an organization with multiple posts and pages, and also WooCommerce products and orders that need to be removed or edited, you should definitely get the Smart Manager plugin.

FAQ

How can you edit your existing WordPress site?
To edit the overall structure of your WordPress site, go to Navigate and then to Appearance. Then, head on to the Editor. This will allow you to edit your site menus, header and footer.

Who can edit pages in WordPress?
Users with editor and admin user roles can edit all posts and pages on your website.

Can WordPress remove your website?
No, WordPress cannot delete your site. More about it here.