Delete and restore media

Move a file to trash to remove it from the Media library and its storage count. You can restore it later. Permanent deletion from the library is currently blocked pending a retention review.

Move something to trash

Choose Move to trash on a file, or tick several and use Delete. They leave the library, stop appearing in pickers, and stop counting against your storage — but the file itself is still there.

Check where a file is used before removing it. A file linked to a current Catalog item cannot be moved to trash: update or remove that item's media link first. Trashing a file does not scrub copies already sent to customers or remove every existing reference to it.

Get one back

Open the Trash tab, find the file — you can search it the same way — and choose Restore. It returns to the library with everything about it intact. Tick several and restore them together.

Nothing empties the trash on a schedule. Files remain available to restore while permanent removal is blocked pending a retention review.

When you need permanent removal

Ask your compliance contact for a retention review. Delete forever and Empty trash are not available as a way to remove files permanently from the library. If an older screen still offers either action, it is blocked and the files remain in trash.

Do not keep retrying or use Inbox's Clear chat as a workaround. Check the saved file state and explain which files need removal when requesting the review.

Clear chat is a different action

Media library trash keeps files available to restore. That does not promise that files shared in a conversation survive Clear chat in Inbox.

Clear chat hides the messages from the workspace and permanently deletes the files shared in that chat. It does not remove the customer's copy on their phone, and you cannot undo it from Inbox. Export the thread and save any needed files before clearing. See Work a conversation.

If an older result says some files were retained for conversation history, those files were not removed by that library action. It does not mean Clear chat is safe or reversible.

When it doesn't do what you expected

You don't have permission. Adding media needs less than removing it. Moving files to trash and restoring them are kept to people who work on templates or campaigns. If those actions aren't there, ask a workspace owner or admin. Permanent deletion still needs a retention review.

Some of a batch worked and some didn't. We tell you how many of each. Deleting several files is several separate actions, not one — the ones that worked stay done.

A file is still used by a Catalog item. Open the item and change or remove its media link before trying to move the file to trash again.

Storage didn't drop after a permanent deletion attempt. That action is blocked; it has not removed the files. Trashed files had already stopped counting when you trashed them. Your storage figure also covers Catalog documents and conversation files, which aren't managed from this page.

A bot image came back as deleted on its own. Pictures your bot generated are moved to trash after 30 days. Files you uploaded yourself are never removed automatically.

Related

• About the Media library
• Upload and reuse media
• Create a message template