Delete content on Microsoft Q&A

  • Article

Deleting content from the site ensures that content that doesn't follow Q&A code of conduct is not exposed to users, helping them to find their answer to their question faster. Also, users who provide answers spend time on valuable content.

Prerequisites

  • You need to be signed in Q&A.
  • You need to be a moderator in Q&A.

Limitations

  • You cannot delete your own content. If you feel your content should be deleted, you can report it and a moderator can delete it.
  • Users will not see any indication of a deleted answer or comment.

Delete a question

  1. From the Questions page, select any question you would like to delete.
  2. From the question overflow menu (the ellipsis), select “Delete”.
  3. A dialog appears asking the moderator to confirm that they want to delete the full question page.
  4. The moderator must select a reason for deleting the content.
  5. Moderator chooses to "Yes, delete content".
  6. The full question thread is deleted.
  7. Moderator sees a Toast message indicating the content has been deleted.

Delete an answer

  1. From the Questions page, select any question you would like to delete one of its answers.
  2. From the answer overflow menu (the ellipsis), select “Delete”.
  3. A dialog appears asking the moderator to confirm that they want to delete the answer and any of its comments, if any.
  4. The moderator must select a reason for deleting the content.
  5. Moderator chooses to "Yes, delete content".
  6. The answer and its comments (if any) are deleted.
  7. Moderator sees a Toast message indicating the content has been deleted.

Delete a comment

  1. From the Questions page, select any question you would like to delete one of the comments on the page.
  2. From the comment overflow menu (the ellipsis), select “Delete”.
  3. A dialog appears asking the moderator to confirm that they want to delete the comment.
  4. The moderator must select a reason for deleting the content.
  5. Moderator chooses to "Yes, delete content".
  6. The comment is deleted.
  7. Moderator sees a Toast message indicating the content has been deleted.

How no moderators see deleted content

Questions: Any question will have a "Deleted"

Content authors will be able to see their questions. In order to let them know the content is deleted, they will see a "Deleted" label on top of each content that has been deleted. Answers and comments will not displayed to non-moderators.

Additionally, moderators can see the full list of deleted content by accessing the Deleted tab in the moderation queue.

No question authors, no moderators

If the deleted content is the question, the full question page will not be available. The user will see a standard message telling them the content has been deleted.

If the deleted content is an answer or comment, the user will see a standard message instead saying that the content is deleted.