No matter which method you choose, of course you should first back up your database in case something goes wrong and you end up deleting things you don\u2019t want to delete.<\/p>\n
Manual Deletion<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf you\u2019d like to manually delete a LOT of posts, there is a little trick you can use to help cut down on the time it will take to run through the deletion process.<\/p>\n
1. First go to your Post section in the Admin area of your backend.<\/p>\n![\"Posts](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-01.png\")
<\/a>Select Posts > All Posts to view your Table of Posts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n2. Once there, go to the \u201cScreen Options\u201d panel in your Admin section. (You should see an option for it in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.)<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-02.png\")
<\/a>Select the Screen Options tab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n3. In the Screen Options panel, you can change the number of posts you can view on one page. Change that number from the default 20 to something higher. (Note: if you have LOTS of posts and you change this number to something VERY high, your browser might lock up on you. You can test it to see how high you can go without problems.)<\/p>\n![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-03.png\")
<\/a>Increase the number of items to display per page in the Screen Options > Pagination section.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n4. Select all your posts; then use the \u201cBulk Actions\u201d pull-down menu, and select \u201cMove to Trash.\u201d After that, click the \u201cApply\u201d button.<\/p>\n![\"Posts](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-04.png\")
<\/a>Select all posts and choose the ‘Move to Trash’ option, then click Apply.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n5. You can then go to your \u201cTrash\u201d section and click \u201cEmpty Trash\u201d if you like.<\/p>\n![\"Posts](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-05.png\")
<\/a>Click ‘Empty Trash’ to permanently delete all trashed posts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*Repeat the above process until all your posts have been moved to trash and deleted.<\/strong><\/p>\nDelete with a Plugin<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf you\u2019d like to use a plugin to do this work, then the Bulk Delete plugin<\/a> should do the trick for you.<\/p>\nThe Bulk Delete plugin lets you choose to delete posts based on a number of different options. For example, you can delete posts based on \u2026<\/p>\n
\n- Status (Draft, Revision, Pending, Scheduled, Private)<\/li>\n
- Category<\/li>\n
- Age of Post<\/li>\n
- Tags<\/li>\n
- And more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Here\u2019s a partial look at the settings page.<\/p>\n![\"Bulk](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/delete-posts-06.png\")
<\/a>Bulk Delete Plugin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGo into the Database<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf you have thousands of posts delete, and you feel the options above may be too slow or too clunky, then your best bet may be to dive into your database. And so for this I\u2019ll refer you to a post at TripWireMagazine<\/a> where they run through at least one way of doing that.<\/p>\nReset Your Database Completely<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a>2. Once there, go to the \u201cScreen Options\u201d panel in your Admin section. (You should see an option for it in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.)<\/p>\n 3. In the Screen Options panel, you can change the number of posts you can view on one page. Change that number from the default 20 to something higher. (Note: if you have LOTS of posts and you change this number to something VERY high, your browser might lock up on you. You can test it to see how high you can go without problems.)<\/p>\n 4. Select all your posts; then use the \u201cBulk Actions\u201d pull-down menu, and select \u201cMove to Trash.\u201d After that, click the \u201cApply\u201d button.<\/p>\n 5. You can then go to your \u201cTrash\u201d section and click \u201cEmpty Trash\u201d if you like.<\/p>\n *Repeat the above process until all your posts have been moved to trash and deleted.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to use a plugin to do this work, then the Bulk Delete plugin<\/a> should do the trick for you.<\/p>\n The Bulk Delete plugin lets you choose to delete posts based on a number of different options. For example, you can delete posts based on \u2026<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a partial look at the settings page.<\/p>\n If you have thousands of posts delete, and you feel the options above may be too slow or too clunky, then your best bet may be to dive into your database. And so for this I\u2019ll refer you to a post at TripWireMagazine<\/a> where they run through at least one way of doing that.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>Delete with a Plugin<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/a>Go into the Database<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Reset Your Database Completely<\/strong><\/h2>\n