# Deleting repositories (/docs/guides/deleting-repositories)

Delete one repository or many from the list, behind a retyped confirmation and the delete_repo scope.

<Callout type="error" title="Deletion is permanent">
  A repository deleted on GitHub cannot be restored by gh-select. Read the list on the confirmation
  screen before you type anything.
</Callout>

## Grant the scope [#grant-the-scope]

GitHub requires the `delete_repo` scope on your token, and `gh` does not request it by default.

```bash
gh auth refresh -s delete_repo
```

Without it, each delete is refused with `OWNER/REPO: refused, the token is missing the delete_repo scope; run: gh auth refresh -s delete_repo` and nothing is removed. A `404` is reported as `not found, or your token has no admin access to it`.

## Which repositories can be deleted [#which-repositories-can-be-deleted]

Only repositories you own. Organization repositories you merely administer are excluded, because the list knows the owner's login but not your role. Pressing `ctrl+x` on one says `OWNER/REPO isn't yours, so it can't be marked for deletion`, and **Delete repository…** is missing from its action menu.

## Delete one [#delete-one]

Open the repository's action menu and choose **Delete repository…**, the last entry, shown in red. You retype the repository's name, without the owner, and press `enter`.

## Delete several [#delete-several]

1. On the repository list, press `ctrl+x` on each repository you want gone. Marked rows get a `✗`, are struck through, and the panel title counts them. Press `ctrl+x` again to unmark.
2. Press `ctrl+d`. A confirmation screen lists every marked repository with its visibility and stars.
3. Type `DELETE N`, where `N` is the number of repositories, and press `enter`. The count in the phrase is there so it cannot go unread.

`esc` cancels from the confirmation screen and keeps your marks. `ctrl+c` clears what you typed, and quits when nothing is typed.

The keys are `ctrl`-prefixed because bare keys are search input on the list.

![The confirmation screen before deleting a repository](/screens/delete.png)

## What happens next [#what-happens-next]

The screen closes and each repository is deleted in order, with one line each:

```txt
Deleted remcostoeten/old-experiment
  local clone left in place: /home/me/dev/old-experiment
Deleted remcostoeten/another-one
```

- A failure on one repository never stops the others. The failures are listed at the end as `2 of 5 deletions failed: ...` and the program exits with status `1`.
- Local clones are never touched. They are only pointed out.
- Deleted repositories are removed from the cache, so the next start does not offer them.