Deleting a site removes it for good. There is no undo and no restore afterwards, so read what goes before you start.
Before you start
- Only the account owner and administrators can delete a site. See team roles.
- Download a backup of anything you might want later: open Backups & Staging and download a restore point (Backups & one-click restore). Once the site is deleted, its restore points are no longer available in the portal.
- If the site has File Storage, copy off the files you need first: it is deleted with the site.
What is deleted
- The site's files, its database and the server it runs on.
- Its staging copy, if it has one.
- Its restore points, as far as you are concerned: you can no longer see, restore or download them.
- Its preview address on our domain.
- Its File Storage, with the files on it.
What happens to email
Mailboxes on the site's domain are archived, not deleted. They stop sending and receiving at once, but their mail is kept for a limited time. To get a mailbox back with its mail, create the same address again in this account before then, on another site or as an email-only domain (Create an email address).
What stays
- Your domain. A domain you registered with us stays registered, and if we host its DNS, the zone and its records are left as they are. The domain just stops showing the site; point it somewhere else or connect it to another site.
- Your account, team and other sites. Nothing outside this site changes.
- The audit log records who deleted the site and when.
What happens to your bill
The charges for this site stop straight away: its add-ons (such as File Storage, a staging copy or the longer backup history) and, if it was a site beyond what your plan includes, the extra-site charge.
Your plan itself keeps running, even if this was your only site. To stop paying altogether, cancel your subscription (Billing and plans).
Delete the site
Caution: This permanently destroys the site's files and database, and its restore points go with it. It cannot be undone.
- Open Sites → your site → Settings, and scroll to Delete this site.
- Press Delete this site permanently.
- Type the site's name exactly as shown (its short name, for example
my-shop) and confirm.
You are taken back to Sites with "Your site … is being deleted, and billing for it has stopped." Its page closes at once, and the server is taken down in the background.