delete_post_meta( int $post_id, string $meta_key, mixed $meta_value = '' ): bool

Deletes a post meta field for the given post ID.

Contents

Description

You can match based on the key, or key and value. Removing based on key and value, will keep from removing duplicate metadata with the same key. It also allows removing all metadata matching the key, if needed.

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Parameters

$post_id int Required
Post ID.
$meta_key string Required
Metadata name.
$meta_value mixed Optional
Metadata value. If provided, rows will only be removed that match the value.
Must be serializable if non-scalar.

Default: ''

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Return

bool True on success, false on failure.

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Source

File: wp-includes/post.php. View all references 

function delete_post_meta( $post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value = '' ) {
	// Make sure meta is deleted from the post, not from a revision.
	$the_post = wp_is_post_revision( $post_id );
	if ( $the_post ) {
		$post_id = $the_post;
	}

	return delete_metadata( 'post', $post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value );
}

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Used By

Used By
Used By Description
do_all_trackbacks() wp-includes/comment.php

Performs all trackbacks.
do_all_enclosures() wp-includes/comment.php

Performs all enclosures.
do_all_pingbacks() wp-includes/comment.php

Performs all pingbacks.
wp_check_for_changed_dates() wp-includes/post.php

Checks for changed dates for published post objects and save the old date.
WP_Privacy_Policy_Content::get_suggested_policy_text() wp-admin/includes/class-wp-privacy-policy-content.php

Checks for updated, added or removed privacy policy information from plugins.
WP_Privacy_Policy_Content::_policy_page_updated() wp-admin/includes/class-wp-privacy-policy-content.php

Updates the cached policy info when the policy page is updated.
wp_privacy_process_personal_data_export_page() wp-admin/includes/privacy-tools.php

Intercept personal data exporter page Ajax responses in order to assemble the personal data export file.
wp_privacy_generate_personal_data_export_file() wp-admin/includes/privacy-tools.php

Generate the personal data export file.
WP_Customize_Manager::handle_dismiss_autosave_or_lock_request() wp-includes/class-wp-customize-manager.php

Deletes a given auto-draft changeset or the autosave revision for a given changeset or delete changeset lock.
_wp_delete_customize_changeset_dependent_auto_drafts() wp-includes/nav-menu.php

Deletes auto-draft posts associated with the supplied changeset.
WP_Customize_Nav_Menus::save_nav_menus_created_posts() wp-includes/class-wp-customize-nav-menus.php

Publishes the auto-draft posts that were created for nav menu items.
wp_restore_image() wp-admin/includes/image-edit.php

Restores the metadata for a given attachment.
Custom_Image_Header::ajax_header_remove() wp-admin/includes/class-custom-image-header.php

Given an attachment ID for a header image, unsets it as a user-uploaded header image for the active theme.
wp_scheduled_delete() wp-includes/functions.php

Permanently deletes comments or posts of any type that have held a status of ‘trash’ for the number of days defined in EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS.
WP_Embed::delete_oembed_caches() wp-includes/class-wp-embed.php

Deletes all oEmbed caches. Unused by core as of 4.0.0.
set_post_thumbnail() wp-includes/post.php

Sets the post thumbnail (featured image) for the given post.
delete_post_thumbnail() wp-includes/post.php

Removes the thumbnail (featured image) from the given post.
wp_check_for_changed_slugs() wp-includes/post.php

Checks for changed slugs for published post objects and save the old slug.
wp_delete_attachment() wp-includes/post.php

Trashes or deletes an attachment.
wp_update_attachment_metadata() wp-includes/post.php

Updates metadata for an attachment.
wp_untrash_post_comments() wp-includes/post.php

Restores comments for a post from the Trash.
wp_insert_post() wp-includes/post.php

Inserts or update a post.
wp_delete_post() wp-includes/post.php

Trashes or deletes a post or page.
wp_untrash_post() wp-includes/post.php

Restores a post from the Trash.
update_attached_file() wp-includes/post.php

Updates attachment file path based on attachment ID.
wp_update_nav_menu_item() wp-includes/nav-menu.php

Saves the properties of a menu item or create a new one.
Show 21 more used by Hide more used by

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Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
1.5.0 Introduced.

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User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 1 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 1You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Codex —

    Other Examples
    Let’s assume we had a plugin that added some meta values to posts, but now when we are uninstalling the plugin, we want to delete all the post meta keys that the plugin added. Assuming the plugin added the keys related_posts and post_inspiration.

    To delete all the keys use delete_post_meta_by_key( $post_meta_key ). This would be added to the “uninstall” function:

    <?php delete_post_meta_by_key( 'related_posts' ); ?>

    Or, if you wanted to delete all the keys except where post_inspiration was “Sherlock Holmes”:

    <?php
$allposts = get_posts( 'numberposts=-1&post_type=post&post_status=any' );

foreach( $allposts as $postinfo ) {
	delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'related_posts' );
	$inspiration = get_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'post_inspiration' );
	foreach( $inspiration as $value ) {
		if( 'Sherlock Holmes' !== $value )
			delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'post_inspiration', $value );
	}
}
?>

    Or maybe post number 185 was just deleted, and you want to remove all related_posts keys that reference it:

    <?php
  $allposts = get_posts( 'numberposts=-1&post_type=post&post_status=any' );

  foreach( $allposts as $postinfo ) {
    delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'related_posts', '185' );
  }
?>
  3. Skip to note 3 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 0You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Michelle Blanchette —

    Be VERY careful when using this function to delete a specific key-value pair. As stated in delete_metadata()‘s documentation, providing an empty string for $meta_value will cause the check to be skipped entirely, resulting in all keys being deleted!

    $meta_value …If specified, only delete metadata entries with this value. Otherwise, delete all entries with the specified meta_key…

    To avoid accidentally deleting ALL key instances, use a short-circuit check:

    $value_to_delete = My_Class::get_value(); // may return empty string
if ( $value_to_delete != '' && delete_metadata( 'post', 27, 'key', $value_to_delete ) ) {
 // the key-value pair was safely deleted
}

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