Wikipedia:Deletion policy

The Wikipedia deletion policy describes how material which does not meet the relevant content criteria is identified and removed from Wikipedia.

All text created in the Wikipedia main namespace is subject to several important rules covering criteria for articles (what Wikipedia is not), encyclopedic quality (verifiability and original research), editorial approach (neutral point of view), as well as the Wikipedia copyright policy. Articles and text which are capable of meeting these should usually be remedied by editing, but content which fails inclusion criteria for Wikipedia, is incapable of verification with reputable sources, or is in breach of copyright policy, is usually deleted.

Deletion of a Wikipedia article removes the current version and all previous versions from view. Unlike page blanking, which can be performed (or reverted) by any user, deletion can be performed only by administrators. In the normal operations of Wikipedia, over one thousand articles are deleted each day, in accordance with a deletion process that is open to all users.

This page describes how articles which are believed to be suitable for deletion should be handled, explains the various deletion options and processes, and summarizes a number of common problems with Wikipedia articles that may call for deletion as well as alternatives to deletion.

• For deletion due to copyright issues, when and how this should be done, and alternatives, see: Wikipedia:Copyright problems.

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Three common tags typed to propose that
an entry on Wikipedia be deleted

• For a guide to deletion discussions, especially if your content is listed for deletion, see Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.

• For the administrators' deletion guide, see Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators.

Deletion discussions, closure, reviewing

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Early closure

If a clear consensus for non-deletion is quickly reached, discussion may be closed before the end of the typical period, for example, a clear consensus for speedy deletion, a clear consensus for a speedy keep, or a consensus for a redirect. The debate should remain transcluded on the appropriate deletion page. If the proposed solution has not achieved a very clear consensus, the listing should remain for the full five-day period. Any substantial debate, regardless of how lopsided the keep/delete count may be, implies that an early closing would be a bad idea.

Deletion review and undeletion

Main page: Wikipedia:Undeletion policy

Wikipedia:Deletion review discussions can lead to Undeletion, a task performed by Administrators if there is support or if a page has obviously been deleted out of process. Undeletion of pages is limited to those pages that are kept in the archive. Some older deleted pages are completely inaccessible.

See also

• Wikipedia:Deletion process
• Wikipedia:Guide to deletion
• Wikipedia:Archived delete debates
• Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maintenance
• Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Precedents
• Wikipedia:Blankpages, Wikipedia:Shortpages
• Wikipedia:Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense
• Wikipedia:Pages needing attention
• Wikipedia:Transwiki log
• meta:History of wiki deletion process