> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://trellopro.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to delete a card in Trello - URL: https://trellopro.com/delete-trello-card/ - Published: 2026-11-01T18:42:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T09:18:46.000Z - Description: Archive a Trello card, then choose Delete and confirm. Check permissions, keep a copy and use the correct route for older cards, lists, mirrors or Inbox. - Author: Nathan Cole - Tags: Boards & cards To delete a card in Trello on the web, open the card, choose Archive from the top-right Actions menu, then open that menu again and choose Delete. Confirm with the red Delete button. [Deleting a card is permanent](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/archiving-and-deleting-cards/?ref=trellopro.com); if you only want it off the board, stop at Archive. A normal board member, guest or board admin can delete a card on Free or a paid plan, provided the board is editable. Save anything worth keeping before the final click. The steps below follow the browser interface; if a phone or desktop app has different controls, open the same card URL in a computer browser. ## Where Delete hides, and who gets to press it Deleting a card is a member's job on a Trello board, not an admin privilege. [Trello's board permission levels](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/changing-permissions-on-a-board/?ref=trellopro.com) let normal members edit and add to the board without restrictions, count a guest as a normal member of the board they were invited to, and let a board admin do anything, a right that the Workspace admins of a paid Workspace share. Atlassian's archiving page says the same from the other side: you or any other board member can delete an archived card or send it back. Neither step has a plan condition of its own, but a Free Workspace with more than 10 collaborators makes its boards view-only, so nobody can change the cards on them. The role left out is the observer. [Observers, a Trello Premium feature](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/adding-observers-to-boards/?ref=trellopro.com), are read-only members: they can view the board, comment where comments are open to them and export it, while moving and editing cards are on Atlassian's list of things they can't do, and their page mentions no archive or delete for them. Readers sometimes want the opposite, a board where only admins can delete cards. The board settings on Atlassian's permission page cover who can comment and who can add or remove members; none covers deleting cards. If a client should see the board without changing it, inviting them as an observer on Premium is the documented read-only route. When the card's menu shows no Delete, match what you see to the cases Atlassian's pages cover: - The card is still in its list. Delete only appears after Archive, which is step 1 below. - The card is a mirror card, a paid-Workspace feature that shows a card from another board. Delete is offered only at the original, and choosing Archive inside the mirror archives the source card itself; the mirror section further down has the safe route. - You can see the board but haven't joined it. [Being a Workspace member doesn't give you editing access to its boards](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/unable-to-edit-a-workspace-board/?ref=trellopro.com), and on Free that holds for Workspace admins too. Open the board menu and select Join board next to the members; if there is no such button, ask a board admin to add you. - The board sits in a Free Workspace with more than 10 collaborators. [Over the Free collaborator limit, every board in the Workspace turns view-only](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/workspace-user-limit/?ref=trellopro.com), with no changes to its cards. The count covers the whole Workspace, guests and pending invites included, and editing returns once collaborators are removed or the Workspace moves to a paid plan. - You are an observer on a Premium board. Observers are read-only and can't edit cards, so expect to hand the job to a normal member or board admin. - You are in a phone app whose card menu differs from these web steps. If Delete does not appear after Archive, open the card URL in a computer browser. ## Moved, archived or deleted: what the rest of the board sees Three different wishes lead people to remove a card from Trello, and only one of them needs Delete. Take an example print-job board with Ideas, Drafting and Printed lists, where the card Flyer draft v1 has been overtaken by v2. - **Out of the way:** move it. [A card moved to another board keeps its description, checklists, attachments and comments](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/moving-cards-or-lists/?ref=trellopro.com), though its history and activity don't travel with it. This suits a card that belongs somewhere else rather than nowhere. - **Out of everyone's view, with a way back:** archive it. The card leaves its list for every member and waits under Archived items in the board menu, where Restore returns it. [Archived cards stay indefinitely and are never deleted automatically](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/archiving-and-deleting-cards/?ref=trellopro.com). Because Archived items are not loaded when the board opens, Atlassian says archiving helps large boards perform. - **Gone:** delete it. Nobody can re-open the card afterwards, so everything on its back goes out of reach with it, and its actions, comments among them, are removed from the board's activity feed. Atlassian's page gives no reason for the order, yet it works as a safety catch: every card passes through a state that Restore can reverse before it reaches one nothing can. I'd stop at Archive for any card a teammate has commented on, because Restore keeps their words within reach while Delete takes them from the whole board. Delete earns its place when nothing on the card is worth keeping, such as a duplicate created by accident, or when the content itself is the problem, such as a description with a password pasted into it (change that password too). The two exits that take a card off the board compare like this: | On the board | Archive | Delete | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | What changes | The card leaves its list | The card leaves its list and Archived items, and its actions leave the activity feed | | Where it is afterwards | Board menu, Archived items, found with Search archive | Nowhere; it can't be re-opened | | Way back | Restore, at any time; archived cards never expire | None | | Undo with Z | Yes, if archiving was your last action | No | | What it takes | One menu choice, or c while hovering | Archive first, then Delete and a confirmation | ## Save what the card holds before it goes Save what you need while the card is still available. Download required attachment files separately: [ordinary exports link to attachments](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/exporting-data-from-trello/?ref=trellopro.com) unless a Premium Workspace admin chooses Include raw attachments in a Workspace export. For the card's text, choose between these routes: - A readable copy of one card: open its comments and activity section if those should appear on the printout. For a long description, select Show more so the full text is visible. Then open Actions → Share → Print. [Printing a single card includes only the visible description](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/printing-in-trello/?ref=trellopro.com) and works on the web; the mobile app has no print option. - The whole board as data: under Print, export, and share in the board menu, any board member can [export the board as JSON](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/exporting-data-from-trello/?ref=trellopro.com). That file carries the board's last 1,000 actions, comments counted among them, so on a busy board an old comment on this card may already have dropped out of it. CSV export belongs to Premium Workspaces and covers only cards still on the board unless .csv is typed after the board's address. Atlassian's export page says neither JSON nor CSV can be imported to re-create a board, so the copy keeps the card's words for reference and never brings the card itself back. Backing up a whole board is covered on the page about exporting a Trello board. ## Delete one card on the web Open the board in your browser while signed in as a normal member, guest or board admin. Make any copy you want to keep first. The steps follow the example card Flyer draft v1; if you usually use a desktop app, open that card's URL in a browser to follow these controls. ### 1\. Archive the card 1. Select the card on the board to open its card back. 2. Select the Actions menu, the button with three horizontal dots in the card back's top right corner. It lists Join (Leave if you are already on the card), Move, Copy, Mirror, Make template and Watch, then Share and Archive below a divider. 3. Choose Archive. ![Trello web open-card Actions menu with Archive highlighted](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-archive-actions.webp) Choose Archive to take the card off the board while keeping it recoverable. [View the Archive control at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-archive-actions.webp?ref=trellopro.com). The card has now left its list for everyone on the board. To confirm, open the board menu (the three-dot Menu in the board header) and select Archived items: Flyer draft v1 is listed there with Restore and Delete under it. If archiving was your last action and you change your mind, [Trello's undo shortcut Z](https://trellopro.com/trello-keyboard-shortcuts/) puts the card back. Two quicker routes skip opening the card. Hover over it and press c, [Trello's archive shortcut](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/keyboard-shortcuts-in-trello/?ref=trellopro.com), or hover, select the pencil icon and choose Archive from the card menu. A card marked complete also shows an archive icon on its card front when you hover over it. On Android, open the card, tap the dot icon at the top right and tap Archive, as [Trello's Android app instructions](https://trello.com/c/xz8hcaN2?ref=trellopro.com) describe. If your Android, iPhone or iPad app offers Delete after archiving, use its confirmation to finish. If it does not, open the same card URL in a computer browser and follow step 2. ### 2\. Delete the archived card This is the step that can't be undone. Once it is done, nobody on the board can re-open the card, and [Undo in Trello can't reverse a deletion](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/undoing-an-action-in-trello/?ref=trellopro.com). ![Trello web archived-card Actions menu with Restore and Delete below Share](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-archived-card-actions.webp) After archiving, the Actions menu offers Restore and Delete. Delete opens the final confirmation. [View the archived-card controls at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-archived-card-actions.webp?ref=trellopro.com). 1. With the card back still open, select the Actions menu again. If you have already closed the card, use the Archived items route in the next section. 2. The bottom of the menu now shows Share, Restore and Delete in place of Archive. Choose Delete. 3. A box titled Delete card? warns that the card's actions will be removed from the activity feed, that the card can't be re-opened and that there is no undo. Select the red Delete button. ![Trello web Delete card confirmation with the final Delete button highlighted](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-delete-card-confirmation.webp) Select Delete only after saving the comments and attachments you need. [View the Delete confirmation at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/16/14/1614a917-d812-4d61-851f-2f38444bec19/content/images/2026/11/A03-provenance-repair-v1-delete-card-confirmation.webp?ref=trellopro.com). Check where you checked before: Flyer draft v1 is gone from its list and from Archived items. That single confirmation box is the whole speed bump; the Power-Up section below covers a way around the archive step and what it costs. ## Deleting a card that was archived weeks ago A card archived long ago is still there, since archived cards stay until someone deletes or restores them. Open the board menu and select Archived items, which sits in the menu itself; if a guide tells you to open More first, that step belongs to the older board menu. Type part of the card's title into Search archive, then select Delete under the card and confirm. Restore sits right beside it, and the page on how to find and restore archived cards covers that side of the panel. ## Clearing many cards at once ### Empty a list but keep the list Open the list's actions menu and choose Archive All Cards in This List..., one of the [bulk list actions in Atlassian's guide to moving cards and lists](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/moving-cards-or-lists/?ref=trellopro.com). Every card moves to Archived items and the empty list stays on the board for the next batch. Each of those cards then has its own Delete in Archived items, and leaving them archived is a fair outcome too, since Trello keeps them indefinitely without loading them each time the board opens. If the cards you clear are always finished ones, Automation can do the archiving as they finish: [Atlassian's example rule archives a card when it is marked complete](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/mark-a-card-as-complete/?ref=trellopro.com). The clean-up then happens at the moment the work ends instead of in a Friday sweep. ### Delete a list together with its cards This removes more than the board shows. [Deleting an archived list](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/archiving-lists-deleting-lists/?ref=trellopro.com) is permanent and takes every open and archived card associated with that list along with it, including cards that were archived from it earlier. If one of those older cards still matters, restore it and move it to another list first. 1. Open the list's actions menu and choose Archive this list. The list and its cards leave the board. 2. Open the board menu, select Archived items, then Switch to lists. 3. Find the list, select its delete icon (the trash can) and confirm with Delete. Until step 3, Send to Board under the archived list returns it to the board. Afterwards the list has gone from Archived items along with everything it held. When every list should go, [delete a whole board](https://trellopro.com/delete-trello-board/) rather than emptying it list by list. ## Mirror cards and Inbox cards A mirror card shows a card that lives on another board, and [card mirroring is available only in paid Workspaces](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/mirroring-cards/?ref=trellopro.com); in a Free Workspace, Mirror makes a link card instead. Mirror cards behave differently when you remove them: opening a mirror means viewing and editing the source card, so Archive chosen inside it archives the source on its own board, and Delete isn't available until you go to the original card's location. To take only the mirror off your board, don't open it: hover over it, select Edit card and choose Remove from this board, or hover and press c. Neither touches the source card. It works the other way too: archiving the source leaves its mirrors where they are, each showing a message that the source has been archived. [Inbox cards keep an archive of their own](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/trello-inbox/?ref=trellopro.com), separate from the board's. A card archived from Inbox won't turn up under the board's Archived items; look in the Inbox menu under View archived cards, where Restore brings it back. ## The Card Delete Power-Up: one step fewer, more access The archive step can be skipped with a Power-Up. [Kolekti describes Card Delete](https://www.kolekti.com/products/trello/card-delete-for-trello?ref=trellopro.com) as deleting a card in two clicks without archiving it first, free of charge and enabled one board at a time. [Power-Ups are added from the Power-Ups menu in the board header](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/enabling-power-ups/?ref=trellopro.com) with Add Power-Ups, a search and Add, and switched off again from that menu under Settings, then Disable. [Card Delete is a separate app from Kolekti](https://trello.com/power-ups/5d0859bfbe10fe7460b4390a/card-delete?ref=trellopro.com), so review its requested access and privacy policy before authorizing it. In Enterprise Workspaces, [admins can restrict which Power-Ups are allowed](https://support.atlassian.com/trello/docs/enterprise-power-up-administration/?ref=trellopro.com). I'd keep Trello's built-in route for occasional cleanup, because it avoids adding an app just to remove a card. Consider the shortcut only when repeated deletions justify that access. If you stopped at Archive, Flyer draft v1 is still one Restore away for anyone on the board who needs it: restore the archived card from Archived items in the board menu.