Deleting a WordPress website is a serious decision that should not be taken lightly. Whether you are moving on to a different platform, shutting down an old project, or simply trying to clean up your digital presence, ensuring that your WordPress site is permanently deleted — both from the internet and backend storage — requires careful execution. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the entire process step-by-step so you can confidently and completely delete your WordPress site with no trace left behind.
Why You Might Want to Permanently Delete a WordPress Site
There are several valid reasons for permanently deleting a WordPress site:
- Outdated Content: The website contains information that is no longer relevant or useful.
- Project Completion: The site was built for a temporary project that has since concluded.
- Security Concerns: Compromised websites can pose a security risk if left live.
- Changing Business Direction: You’ve pivoted your business, and the current site doesn’t align with your new goals.
Whatever your reason may be, complete deletion ensures that no content remains searchable or accessible online.
Important Pre-Deletion Steps
Before you proceed with permanently deleting a WordPress site, take the time to perform the following precautionary steps:
1. Backup Your Data
Even if you are certain you’ll never use the data again, creating a full backup is a best practice. Backup your WordPress files and database just in case you may need content, images, or configuration settings in the future.
2. Inform Visitors (Optional)
If the site has regular visitors or users, consider posting a notice about the site’s upcoming removal. Transparency can help mitigate confusion or concern.
3. Disable Indexing
To speed up the process of removing your site from search engines, go to Settings > Reading in your WordPress dashboard and check the box that says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
How to Delete a WordPress Site Hosted on WordPress.com
If your site is hosted on WordPress.com (not self-hosted), the steps for permanent deletion are as follows:
- Log in to your WordPress.com account.
- Navigate to My Sites > Manage > Settings.
- Scroll all the way down and click on the “Delete your site permanently” link.
- Follow the prompt that asks you to export your content if needed, and confirm the deletion.
Note: Once confirmed, the URL and content are removed and cannot be retrieved later. Also, the free WordPress.com subdomain will not be available for reuse immediately and may never become publicly available again.
How to Delete a Self-Hosted WordPress Site
When your website is self-hosted (e.g., you are using a hosting provider like Bluehost, SiteGround, or HostGator), you have to delete both the website files and the associated database manually.
1. Access Your Hosting Account
Log in to your hosting provider’s control panel (usually cPanel). This dashboard will give you access to the File Manager and phpMyAdmin, both essential tools for deletion.
2. Delete the Website Files
Within your hosting provider’s File Manager, navigate to the directory where your website files are stored — often in a folder called public_html or similar. Select all files and delete them.
Alternatively, if you prefer using FTP software like FileZilla:
- Connect using your FTP credentials.
- Navigate to the root directory of your website.
- Select and delete all files.
3. Remove the WordPress Database
Deleting the website files is not enough. You must also delete its database to ensure complete removal.
- In cPanel, locate and open phpMyAdmin.
- Select the database associated with your WordPress site.
- Click on “Drop” to delete the entire database permanently.
4. Remove Subdomain or Main Domain from Hosting
To finalize the deletion, return to your hosting dashboard and remove any associated subdomains or domain pointers that relate to the deleted site. This ensures the domain isn’t accidentally reconnected in the future.
Remove DNS Settings and Domain Registration (If Applicable)
If you have a custom domain, deleting your website does not automatically release the domain name. If you no longer plan to use it:
- Log in to your domain registrar (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap).
- Remove any custom DNS records.
- Set the domain not to auto-renew or cancel the registration directly through support.
This will ensure that the domain expires naturally or is immediately removed from your portfolio.
Use the Google Removal Tool
Even after deletion, remnants of your website may exist in search engine caches or archives. To expedite their removal, use Google’s URL Removal Tool:
- Sign in to Google Search Console.
- Verify ownership of your retired domain if you haven’t already.
- Navigate to the “Removals” tool and request a temporary removal of URLs or the entire site.
Over time, once crawlers realize the content no longer exists, the URLs will be dropped from the index permanently.
Check for External Backups
If your website was backed up to third-party services (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive, Jetpack, UpdraftPlus), it’s essential to also remove those copies.
Log in to connected services and delete any existing backups or archives. Not only is this good for privacy, but it also reduces the storage you’re using unnecessarily.
Extra Considerations for Multisite Installations
If you’re working within a WordPress Multisite environment, deleting a single site is slightly different and requires administrative control:
- Log in as a Super Admin.
- Navigate to Network Admin > Sites.
- Hover over the site and click Delete.
- Confirm deletion when prompted.
If the deleted site had its own domain mapping, those settings must also be cleared out.
Final Confirmation and Validation
Once all the above steps are completed, it’s time to verify that your WordPress website has been successfully and permanently deleted:
- Visit the website URL – it should return a 404 or site not found error.
- Search for your site on Google using “site:yoursite.com” – no pages should appear.
- Check the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) to see if any snapshots exist and request removal if necessary.
Conclusion
Permanently deleting a WordPress site is more than simply pressing a “delete” button — it involves a series of meticulous steps to ensure digital cleanliness and security. From removing files and databases to de-indexing and scrubbing backups, this process should be treated with care. If executed correctly, you can be confident that your site is not only gone but also unrecoverable from search engines, archives, and web hosts.
Remember: Deletion is final. Take time to back up, verify, and double-check your actions before removing your WordPress site.
Whether you’re closing an old chapter or just reorganizing your digital space, now you know exactly how to make the closure complete and permanent.