Editing and deleting
This page is for the marketer. It is about a post that is already live. People have seen it by then, and nothing here takes that back.
For a post that is not live yet, see Posting for drafts and Scheduling for scheduled and queued posts.
What can be done where
| Change the text | Yes, for a post made through this server | No | Yes |
| Hide, and show again | Yes | No | No |
| Delete | Yes | Yes, once an administrator allows it | Yes |
Each of these is previewed first, and done only after you confirm. The AI client does them when you ask, never on its own judgement.
What you can ask for
Fix the typo in yesterday's post on the Acme Facebook Page: "opning" should be "opening".
Hide the Acme Facebook post about the old price list.
Delete last Monday's LinkedIn post about the cancelled event.
The preview shows the post as it is now, so you can see that it is the right one.
Editing the text
Only the text changes. A post's photo, video, link or document cannot be replaced. The new text replaces the old text whole, and it is held to the same length limit as a new post.
Facebook. People who have seen the post see the new text, and Facebook marks the post as edited.
Only posts made through this server
Meta lets an app edit only a post that the same app made. So a post published through this server can be edited here. A post written in Facebook or in Meta Business Suite is refused by Meta. Edit that one where it was written.
LinkedIn. People see the new text, and LinkedIn marks the post as edited. The text is sent as plain text, like a new post: hashtags work, and a mention in the old text becomes ordinary words.
Instagram. A caption cannot be edited from here. The only way to change one from here is to delete the post and post it again, which loses its comments and figures. You can still edit a caption in the Instagram app.
Hiding a Facebook post
Hiding takes a post off the Page's timeline. Nothing is deleted:
- the post keeps its comments and figures;
- its own link still opens it;
- you can show it again at any time.
Show the Acme post about the old price list again.
That is why hiding comes first. When you ask for a Facebook post to come down, the AI client offers to hide it before it offers to delete it.
Instagram and LinkedIn have no hidden state for a post that can be set from here. On Instagram, you can archive a post in the Instagram app.
Deleting a post
Deleting cannot be undone
The post goes for good, and its comments, reactions and figures go with it.
Deleting asks twice. The AI client shows you the post and what goes with it, and deletes it only after you have asked for that post to be deleted and confirmed it. See How it keeps you safe.
- One post each time. There is no deleting several posts in one request.
- The post is kept in the activity log as it was: its text, link, time and counts. See Activity log.
- Deleting does not give the day's post back. The post still counts against the daily cap.
Facebook. Needs no switch. If Meta does not let the app delete the post, nothing is deleted and you can hide it instead.
Instagram. A post, a reel, a story or a whole carousel can be deleted. One picture of a carousel cannot. It is off by default: see below.
LinkedIn. Needs no switch. Your role on the Page must allow posting. If the post is already gone, the answer says so and nothing is sent.
Deleting Instagram posts is off by default
Deleting an Instagram post needs a permission from Meta that the server does not ask for unless an administrator switches it on. Until then the request is refused, and the refusal says where the switch is.
For the administrator:
- In your Meta app, add the permission that Meta app names under Deleting Instagram posts. Meta has to approve it through App Review before people without a role on the app can grant it. Meta decides that.
- Open Meta app.
- Under Deleting Instagram posts, tick Ask for the permission to delete Instagram posts when people connect.
- Press Save.
Switch it on only after Meta has approved the permission
Asking for a permission that the app does not have makes signing in fail for everyone. And everyone already connected has to reconnect to grant the new permission: see Meta.
Deleting a Facebook post needs none of this.
What is refused
- A post that was made only to be advertised. A post created through this server just for an ad is on no timeline, and deleting it would stop the ad. Pause or delete the ad instead: see Meta Ads.
- A LinkedIn post that LinkedIn marks as sponsored. Deleting it would stop the ad. See LinkedIn Ads.
- An Instagram post that is running as an ad. Instagram refuses that itself.
- A post that is not this Page's or this account's own. The server reads the post first, and the platform has to say that it belongs there.
- A post that is not live. A draft or a scheduled post has its own requests: publish, move or discard.
- A delete that was not confirmed.
- Several posts in one request.
- Any of it from a user without write access, or while the server is read-only.
To deal with comments on a post, not the post itself, see Comments.