Title: delete_post_thumbnail
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# delete_post_thumbnail( int|WP_Post $post ): bool

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Removes the thumbnail (featured image) from the given post.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$post`int|[WP_Post](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_post/)
required

Post ID or post object from which the thumbnail should be removed.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 bool True on success, false on failure.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    function delete_post_thumbnail( $post ) {
    	$post = get_post( $post );
    	if ( $post ) {
    		return delete_post_meta( $post->ID, '_thumbnail_id' );
    	}
    	return false;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/post.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/post.php#L8136)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/post.php#L8136-L8142)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [delete_post_meta()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_meta/)`wp-includes/post.php` |

Deletes a post meta field for the given post ID.

  | 
| [get_post()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_post/)`wp-includes/post.php` |

Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.

  |

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_REST_Posts_Controller::handle_featured_media()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_posts_controller/handle_featured_media/)`wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-posts-controller.php` |

Determines the featured media based on a request param.

  | 
| [wp_ajax_set_post_thumbnail()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_ajax_set_post_thumbnail/)`wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php` |

Handles setting the featured image via AJAX.

  | 
| [wp_insert_post()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_insert_post/)`wp-includes/post.php` |

Inserts or update a post.

  | 
| [wp_xmlrpc_server::mw_editPost()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_xmlrpc_server/mw_editpost/)`wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php` |

Edits a post.

  | 
| [wp_xmlrpc_server::_insert_post()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_xmlrpc_server/_insert_post/)`wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php` |

Helper method for wp_newPost() and wp_editPost(), containing shared logic.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_post_thumbnail/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [3.3.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/3.3.0/) | Introduced. |

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