Delete a topic

This feature is only available to organization owners and administrators.

We generally recommend against deleting topics, but there are a few situations in which it can be useful:

  • Clearing out test messages after setting up an organization.

  • Clearing out messages from an overly enthusiastic bot.

  • Managing abuse.

In most other cases, renaming a topic is often a better idea, or just leaving the topic as is. Deleting a topic can confuse users who come to the topic later via an email notification.

Note that deleting a topic also deletes every message with that topic, whereas archiving a stream does not.

Delete a topic

  1. Hover over a topic in the left sidebar.

  2. Click on the ellipsis ().

  3. Click Delete topic.

  4. Approve by clicking Confirm.

  1. Press and hold a topic until the long-press menu appears.

  2. Tap Delete topic.

  3. Approve by tapping DELETE TOPIC.

If you are viewing a single topic, you can access the long-press menu from the bar at the top of the app.

Note that deleting all of the individual messages within a particular topic also deletes that topic. Structurally, topics are simply an attribute of messages in Zulip.