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Trash and auto-drafts

When you delete a post, page or comment in WordPress, it goes to the trash first, so you can still restore it. Auto-drafts are something else: as soon as you open the editor for a new post, WordPress creates a placeholder in the database. If you never save it, it stays an auto-draft.

Why it matters

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Both are normal, and WordPress cleans them up on its own. Items in the trash are deleted for good after a while, and auto-drafts that were never saved are removed after a few days.

They only become noticeable when the cleanup doesn’t happen. Thousands of trashed items or auto-drafts take up space in the database and make the content tables larger, without adding anything visitors see.

What influences it

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WordPress: The cleanup runs once a day through WP-Cron. The most common reason for a large trash or many old auto-drafts is that scheduled tasks don’t run reliably. The constant EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS in wp-config.php sets how long items stay in the trash; set to 0, deleted items skip the trash entirely.

In Permo

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The Trash and drafts card is in System info, tab Database, under Cleanup potential. It counts the posts, pages and other content in the trash, plus the auto-drafts. Drafts you saved yourself aren’t included, nor are revisions, which have a card of their own, or comments in the trash.

The number gives context; Permo doesn’t rate it. Permo only counts and deletes nothing.

Reference values

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WordPress keeps items in the trash for 30 days by default and deletes auto-drafts that are older than 7 days (source: developer.wordpress.org, wp_scheduled_delete() and wp_delete_auto_drafts(), accessed October 16, 2026).

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Sources