How to Delete a Pinterest Board Without Losing the Pins

A board you finished still sits on your profile, and you want it off the page. Delete sits inside Edit board, and it removes every Pin saved on that board. Archive hides that board from your public profile when you still want to open it later.

The steps cover a computer, an Android phone, and an iPhone or iPad. You will also see how to bring a deleted board back, how to move Pins you still want, and what to do when the board is shared.

Pinterest Archive Rules Before You Remove a Board

Pick the outcome before you confirm anything. Archive keeps every Pin on the board and hides the board from your public profile. Delete removes the board, and Pinterest’s archive or delete a board guide says the Pins on it are deleted too. Merge fits when two boards cover the same idea and you want the Pins in one place.

WHAT EACH CHOICE DOES TO THE BOARD

After a delete, the board sits in Recently deleted for seven days. A personal account can restore it on a computer or on Android. Pinterest’s note for a business account says you can only restore a board on a desktop device. The iPhone and iPad apps are not a restore path, so use the website if that is the phone in your hand.

While a board is archived, you cannot save new Pins to it. You can still open it from the bottom of your profile, and you can unarchive it at any time. That is the version to use for a holiday you will plan again or a room you might shop for later.

How to Delete a Pinterest Board on a Computer

On the website, Delete is not on the first menu. You open Edit board, then go to the bottom left of that screen. People miss it when they only check the three dots and stop there.

1. Log in and click the control next to your profile picture at the top right to open your profile.
2. Click the board you want to remove so it opens.
3. Click the three dots next to the board name, then select Edit board.
4. Click Delete at the bottom left, then click Delete forever.

The board leaves your profile when you confirm. Every Pin saved on that board is deleted with it. A Pin you delete on its own cannot be recovered at all, which is a harder loss than a board you can still restore from Recently deleted.

If one save is the only problem, unsaving a Pin you saved leaves the rest of the board in place. Clearing Pins across the whole account is a different job, and the steps to delete all Pins cover that cleanup.

How to Delete a Pinterest Board in the App

The phone path starts the same way on Android and on iPhone, then the confirm words split. On a business account, tap Saved where a personal account taps Boards. Read the bottom of Edit board and use the pair of words on your screen.

Delete a Board on Android

In the Android layout, the control at the bottom of Edit board says Delete, and the second tap says Delete again.

1. Open the Pinterest app and tap your profile picture at the bottom right.
2. Tap Boards, or tap Saved if the account is a business account.
3. Tap the board you want to remove.
4. Tap the three dots at the top right, then tap Edit board.
5. Scroll down, tap Delete, then tap Delete again.

That second tap is the confirm. If the bottom of the screen says Delete board instead, you are on the other layout, and the next section matches those words.

Delete a Board on an iPhone or iPad

In the iPhone and iPad layout, Edit board ends with Delete board, and the confirm button says Delete forever. The route to that screen matches Android until the last tap.

1. Open the app and tap your profile picture at the bottom right.
2. Tap Boards, or tap Saved on a business account.
3. Tap the board, then tap the three dots at the top right.
4. Tap Edit board and scroll to the bottom.
5. Tap Delete board, then tap Delete forever.

RESTORE IS NOT IN THE IPHONE APP

You can delete a board on an iPhone or iPad. You cannot bring it back there. Pinterest points iPhone and iPad readers to the computer steps and the Android steps for restore. If this phone is your only device, archive the board, or delete it only when you are sure the Pins can go.

A business account has a tighter limit on the way back. Restore for that account is on a computer, even if you deleted the board in the app. Keep a laptop or desktop login ready before you confirm.

How to Restore a Deleted Pinterest Board

Open Recently deleted while the board is still listed. Pinterest’s missing-boards help says a deleted board can only be recovered for seven days after deletion. It does not describe a later restore.

Restore a Personal Board on a Computer

Use the Saved tab on the website. The section name on a personal account is Recently deleted boards, and the button is Restore Boards.

1. Click your profile picture at the top right.
2. Click the Saved tab.
3. Scroll down to Recently deleted boards.
4. Click Restore Boards.
5. Select the board and click Restore.

A business account uses the same Saved tab, then a section named Recently deleted and a button named Restore boards. Select the board and click Restore. Pinterest says that business restore works on a desktop device.

Restore a Board on Android

Personal accounts can do this in the Android app. Scroll past your active boards until Recently deleted appears.

• Profile: Tap your profile picture at the bottom right.
• Boards: Tap Boards, then scroll to Recently deleted.
• Restore: Tap Restore, tap the board, then tap Restore again.

If you deleted the board on an iPhone, sign in on a computer, or on an Android device for a personal account, while it is still in that list. An archived board will not appear there, because archive and delete are different states.

How to Archive a Pinterest Board You Might Reopen

Archive is the right control when the project is finished for now and the Pins still belong to you. A wedding board, a nursery plan, or a holiday menu can leave your public profile without taking the Pins with it.

1. On a computer, open your profile from the control beside your profile picture at the top right.
2. Open the board and click the three dots next to the board name.
3. Select Archive, then click Archive again to confirm.

In the app, tap your profile picture at the bottom right, open the board, and tap the three dots at the top right. Tap Archive board, then tap Archive. The board moves off the public profile immediately.

WHERE AN ARCHIVED BOARD GOES

• Public profile: The board does not show on your public profile.
• New Pins: You cannot save new Pins to it while it stays archived.
• Your copy: On a computer it sits at the bottom of your boards. In the app, open Boards and scroll to Archived boards.
• Later: You can unarchive it at any time after you open it from that spot.

On a computer you can also type the board name into the search bar on the Boards tab if scrolling does not surface it. Open the board from that result when you are ready to unarchive it or to delete it with the Edit board path.

How to Keep Pins When a Board Has to Go

Move the Pins you still want before you delete. Picture a board called Guest Room that holds paint colors you already used and storage ideas you still want. Send the storage Pins to a board you use, then archive Guest Room if you might shop that look again, or delete it if the project is done.

On a computer, follow the move Pins to another board steps. Open the board, click Organize at the top, select the Pins, click Move, then click Save next to the board that should keep them. In the app, open the board, tap Organize, select the Pins, and send them to the other board or section.

When two boards you own cover one topic, merge the extra one into the board you want to keep. On a computer, open the board you are dropping, click the three dots next to the name, select Merge, pick the board, and click Move Pins and Delete Board. You can also drag one board onto the center of the other and confirm Move Pins and delete board. On a phone, the menu says Merge or Merge boards, and you confirm with Merge.

THREE LIMITS ON A MERGE

• The followers: Followers of the board you merge away do not transfer to the board you keep.
• The privacy: If you merge a secret board into a public board, the privacy setting of the destination board applies.
• The undo: There is no reverse button. Create a new board or section and move the Pins back one by one.

Merge only boards or sections you own. Check the board that will remain before you confirm, because the Pins land there and the other board is removed as part of the same step.

What If a Pinterest Board Is Shared or Missing?

If you own the group board, you can delete it the same way as any other board. If you were invited to add Pins, you leave instead. Leaving takes the board off your profile. It does not give you the owner’s delete control.

1. On a computer, open your profile and click the group board.
2. Click the group of profile pictures under the board name.
3. Click Leave next to your name, then click Leave again.

In the app, tap Boards, open the group board, and tap the same stack of profile pictures. One layout asks you to tap Leave board. The other asks you to tap Leave next to your name, then Leave again. Use the word on your screen.

If a group board vanished and you did not delete it, you may have left it, or the owner may have removed you. Ask the owner to invite you back, or request to join the board again. You cannot pull someone else’s group board out of your Recently deleted list.

IF THE BOARD LOOKS GONE

• Archived: On a computer, scroll to the end of your boards. In the app, open Boards and scroll to Archived boards.
• Wrong tab: On a business account you might be looking at Created. Click your profile photo, then click Saved.
• Board view: The board may have opened on More ideas or Make it yours. Tap All saves to see the Pins you saved.
• Removal: If Pinterest took the board down, check the email on the account for a note about the Community guidelines.

A deleted Pin stays deleted. Restoring a board is the recovery Pinterest documents, and it applies to the board you removed, not to a single Pin you deleted from a board you kept.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Find an Archived Board by Name?

On a computer, open your profile, go to the Boards tab, and type the board name in the search bar there. Scrolling to the end of your boards also lists archived ones. In the app, tap your profile picture, open Boards, and scroll to the Archived boards section.

Can You Delete a Board Section and Keep the Pins?

Merge the section into another section you own, and the Pins move before the old section is removed. On a computer, hover the section cover, choose Merge, pick the section to keep, and click Move Pins and delete section. On a phone, open the section, choose Merge, and confirm with Move Pins or Merge sections, depending on the layout.

How Do You Move One Pin Off a Board?

Open that Pin and change the board it is saved to, which leaves every other Pin where it is. On a computer, use the menu on the Pin, switch Board or Section, and click Save. In the app, tap the three dots, tap Edit Pin, tap the current board name, pick the new board or section, and tap Done.

What If Google or Apple Opened a Second Account?

A Google or Apple login can create a second Pinterest account, and the missing board may be on the other one. Open your profile and check the account before you delete or archive anything. Switch accounts if the boards you expect are not on the one you are viewing.

Can You Undo a Merge After the Pins Have Moved?

You undo it by hand. Create a new board or a new section, then move the Pins back one by one. Followers of the board you merged away stay behind, because they do not transfer in the merge.

If the Pins still belong on your profile, archive the board or merge it into one you use. If you already tapped Delete forever on an iPhone, open the same account on a computer while the board is still under Recently deleted.