zulip/help/edit-or-delete-a-message.md

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# Edit or delete a message
!!! warn ""
**Note:** Editing message topic is discussed in a
[separate guide](/help/rename-a-topic).
By default, Zulip allows you to edit the content of your messages within 10
minutes of when you send them. Organization administrators can
[change the time limit](/help/restrict-message-editing-and-deletion),
remove the time limit, or remove the ability to edit messages entirely.
Administrators can delete other users' messages, but can never edit the
content.
## Edit a message
{start_tabs}
{!message-actions.md!}
1. Click the **pencil** (<i class="fa fa-pencil"></i>) icon.
1. Edit the message, and click **Save**.
!!! warn ""
**Note:** If you don't see the **pencil** (<i class="fa fa-pencil"></i>) icon,
you are not permitted to edit this message.
{end_tabs}
!!! tip ""
After you have edited a message, the message is publicly
marked as **EDITED**. You can
[view a message's edit history](/help/view-a-messages-edit-history)
if it is [enabled](/help/disable-message-edit-history) in your organization.
## Delete a message
Editing a message to delete its content will cause the message to be
displayed as **(deleted)**. The original sender and timestamp of the
message will still be displayed, and the original content of the
message is still accessible via Zulip's [edit
history](/help/view-a-messages-edit-history) feature. This can be the
least confusing option for other users.
### Delete a message completely
For cases where someone accidentally shared secret information publicly
(e.g. you posted an employee's salary), it can make sense to delete a
message completely.
By default, only administrators can delete messages, though this can be
[configured](/help/restrict-message-editing-and-deletion) by an organization
administrator.
{start_tabs}
{!message-actions-menu.md!}
1. Select **Delete message**.
1. Approve by clicking **Confirm**.
{end_tabs}
If you don't see the **Delete message** option, it means you don't have
permissions to delete that message.
## How deletion works
* Deleted messages will immediately disappear from the UI in all
official Zulip clients.
* Any uploaded files referenced only by deleted messages will also be
immediately inaccessible (An uploaded file shared in multiple
messages will not be deleted until all of those messages are
deleted).
* It's important to understand that anyone who received the message
before you deleted it could have made a copy of its content. Even if
no one is online when you send the message, users may have received
the message via email or mobile notifications. So if you
accidentally shared secret information that you can change, like a
password, you may want to change that password regardless of whether
you also delete the message.
* For protection against accidental or immediately regretted
deletions, messages deleted directly or via a [message retention
policy](/help/message-retention-policy) are archived for 30 days in a
format that can be restored by a server administrator. After that
time, they are permanently and irrecoverably deleted from the Zulip
server. Server administrators can adjust the archival time using
the `ARCHIVED_DATA_VACUUMING_DELAY_DAYS` setting.
## Related articles
* [View the Markdown source of a message](/help/view-the-markdown-source-of-a-message)
* [Delete a topic](/help/delete-a-topic)
* [Archive a stream](/help/archive-a-stream)
* [Message retention policy](/help/message-retention-policy)
* [Restrict message editing and deletion](/help/restrict-message-editing-and-deletion)