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

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 value: ''

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Return

(bool) True on success, false on failure.

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Source

File: wp-includes/post.php 

function delete_post_meta( $post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value = '' ) {
	// Make sure meta is added to the post, not 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
wp-includes/comment.php: do_all_trackbacks()

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Publish the auto-draft posts that were created for nav menu items.
wp-admin/includes/class-custom-image-header.php: Custom_Image_Header::ajax_header_remove()

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trash or delete an attachment.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_update_attachment_metadata()

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

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

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

Trash or delete a post or page.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_untrash_post()

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

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

Save the properties of a menu item or create a new one.
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Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
1.5.0 Introduced.

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User Contributed Notes

  2. Skip to note 2 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 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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