Delete a pin from your own board in three steps
To delete a pin you created or saved to your own board, open Pinterest and find the pin. Hover your mouse over it (or tap and hold on mobile), then click the three dots that appear in the corner. Select Delete from the menu. The pin disappears from your board when ready, though it may take a few hours to stop showing up in search results or other people's feeds if they reshared it.
On mobile, the process is the same: find the pin, tap the three dots, and choose Delete. You do not need to go back to the pin's original board or ask anyone else's permission — if it is on your board, you can remove it.
Deleted pins cannot be recovered, so if you think you might want the pin later, consider moving it to a private board instead. You can always delete it permanently after you are sure.
Key Takeaways
- Find the pin on your board, tap or hover over it, click the three dots, and select Delete to remove it permanently.
- Deleted pins disappear from your board right away but may take hours to stop appearing in search results or other people's feeds.
- If you saved someone else's pin to your board, deleting it removes only your copy, not the original from their board.
- Moving a pin to a private board is a safer option if you might want it back later.
The difference between deleting your pin and deleting a pin you saved
When you delete a pin you originally created and posted, it removes the pin from your board and from Pinterest's system. Other people cannot see it anymore, and it will not appear in search results. However, if someone already saved or reshared your pin before you deleted it, their copy stays on their board — you are only removing your original.
When you delete a pin you saved from someone else's board, you are only removing it from your own board. The original pin stays on their board and everywhere else on Pinterest. This is useful if you saved something by accident or changed your mind about keeping it, but it does not affect the person who posted it originally.
Bulk delete: removing multiple pins at once
If you want to delete many pins from one board, you can select multiple pins and delete them together. On desktop, click the pencil icon at the top of your board, then check the boxes next to each pin you want to remove. Click Delete selected at the bottom. On mobile, tap the three dots on your board name, choose Edit board, then tap each pin you want to delete and confirm.
Bulk delete is faster than removing pins one at a time, but make sure you have selected only the pins you actually want gone. There is no undo button after you confirm, so take a moment to double-check your selection.
What happens when you delete a pin from a collaborative board
If you and someone else share a board, you can delete only the pins you personally added to it. You cannot delete pins that the other person posted. If you want to remove a pin that someone else added, you have to ask them to delete it, or you can remove them from the board entirely (which removes all their pins at once).
If you are the board owner, you can delete any pin on the board, including ones other people added. The person who posted the pin will see it disappear from the shared board, but they can post it again if they want to.
Recovering a deleted pin is not possible through Pinterest
Once you delete a pin, Pinterest does not keep a copy you can restore. If you deleted a pin by accident and want it back, you will need to recreate it. If it was a pin you saved from someone else, you can search for the original and save it again to your board.
If you are worried about losing a pin you might want later, save it to a private board instead of deleting it. Private boards are visible only to you, so you can keep pins there without showing them to your followers. You can always make the board public later or delete the pins permanently once you are certain.
Pins that disappear on their own
Sometimes a pin you saved disappears from your board even though you did not delete it. This usually happens when the person who originally posted the pin deletes it from their board. When the original pin is gone, your saved copy disappears too. You will not get a notification that this happened — you will only notice when you look for the pin and it is no longer there.
If a pin you wanted to keep disappears this way, you cannot get it back through Pinterest. If you remember what it was, you might be able to find a similar pin by searching for the same topic or keywords.
Managing pins before you delete them
Before you delete a pin, think about whether you might want to reference it later. If the pin contains useful information — a recipe, a design idea, a link to an article — take a screenshot or save the link somewhere else first. This is especially important for pins that link to websites, because the link might disappear even if the pin stays.
Another option is to move the pin to a private board instead of deleting it. Create a board called "Archive" or "Old Ideas" and move pins there instead of removing them. This way you keep a record without showing them to your followers, and you can delete them later if you are sure you do not need them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete a pin that someone else posted on my board?
Only if you are the board owner. If it is a shared board and someone else posted the pin, you cannot delete it — you have to ask them to remove it themselves. If you own the board, you can delete any pin on it, even ones other people added.
Will the person who posted the pin know I deleted it?
No, Pinterest does not send notifications when someone deletes a pin. If they visit your board, they will see that the pin is gone, but they will not receive a message about it. If it was a collaborative board, they will notice the pin is missing when they check the board.
What if I delete a pin by accident?
You cannot recover it through Pinterest. If it was a pin you saved from someone else, search for the original and save it again. If it was your own pin, you will have to recreate it from scratch. This is why moving pins to a private board is safer if you are unsure about deleting them.
Does deleting a pin remove it from other people's boards?
No. If someone else saved your pin before you deleted it, their copy stays on their board. Deleting your original pin only removes it from your board and Pinterest's search results — it does not affect copies that other people already saved.
Can I delete all pins from a board at once?
You can delete multiple pins at once using the bulk delete feature, but you cannot delete an entire board's pins with a single click. You have to select the pins you want to remove. If you want to clear out a board completely, you can delete the board itself, which removes all pins on it.