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# Unpublish, archive, and delete

Use the item detail sheet **⋮** menu to unpublish, archive, or delete CMS items. Wicked CMS asks you to confirm destructive actions.

## Available actions

Open an item, click **⋮**, and choose from:

| Action                    | Effect                                                                           |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Unpublish**             | Removes the item from the live site; item remains as draft                       |
| **Archive**               | Archives the item                                                                |
| **Unpublish and Archive** | Unpublishes and archives in one step                                             |
| **Delete**                | Permanently deletes an item that has no live version (Not published or Archived) |
| **Unpublish and Delete**  | Unpublishes and deletes an item that has a live version                          |

The exact options shown depend on the item's current status (draft, live, archived, etc.).

## Unpublish an item

#### Open the item

Click **OPEN** on a live item.

#### Open the action menu

Click **⋮** in the item sheet sidebar, next to the **Publish** button.

#### Click Unpublish

Select **Unpublish** and confirm if prompted.

After unpublishing, the item is no longer live on the site. Publish state changes to **Draft**.

## Archive an item

Choose **Archive** from the ⋮ menu to archive the item. Archived items show **Archived** status in the items table.

To archive a live item in one step, use **Unpublish and Archive**.

## Delete an item

Choose **Delete** (items with no live version) or **Unpublish and Delete** (items with a live version) from the ⋮ menu. Confirm in the dialog to permanently remove the item.

On multi-locale sites, deleting prompts **Delete item from which locales?** Choose **Current locale only** or **All locales**. See [Locale-scoped actions](/locale-scoped-actions).

> **Warning**
>
> Delete actions are permanent. Confirm you have the correct item before proceeding.

## Bulk actions

To unpublish, archive, or delete multiple items, use [Update multiple items](/bulk-actions):

* **Unpublish**
* **Archive**
* **Unpublish and archive**
* **Unpublish and delete**

Bulk destructive actions show confirmation dialogs before proceeding.

## Queue to archive

Items can also be queued to archive on the next site publish, showing **Queued to be Archived** status. Remove the queue with **Remove from queue** from the ⋮ menu.

## Restore archived or unpublished content

To revert an item to its last published version, use [Restore live](/restore-live).

## Related guide

See [Restore live](/restore-live) to recover a previously published version of an item.

> Remove or deactivate CMS items