Delete and restore OKRs

Last updated: September 12, 2026

Deleting an Objective, Key Result or Initiative moves it to Trash, where it can be restored for 30 days before Rhythms removes it permanently. Delete from the goal's ⋯ menu with Move to trash; restore or permanently delete from the Trash page under your profile menu (Recently Deleted). You need manage permission on the goal, which by default means its owners, their managers and Rhythms Admins.

Delete a goal

  1. Find the goal in a list or open its detail panel, click ⋯, then Move to trash.
  2. A dialog titled Move this objective to trash? (or key result, initiative) opens. If the goal has children, tick what should go with it:
    • Also delete its immediate child OKRs: trashes the direct children as well.
    • Move to trash the entire hierarchy: removes every descendant, at every level. (Ticking this ticks the first option too; they nest.)
  3. Click Move to trash. There is no typed confirmation.

Children aligned to more than one parent are never deleted with a parent; the dialog notes that OKRs aligned to more than one parent "won't be deleted — they are still contributing elsewhere." They simply lose this parent.

What happens to children you keep

Direct children that you did not tick are re-attached to the deleted goal's own parents, so a Key Result under a deleted Objective moves up to the Objective's parent. If the deleted goal had no parent, the children become top-level goals. Contribution weights among the remaining children are redistributed and the parents' progress is recalculated.

Restore a deleted goal

  1. Click your avatar at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Recently Deleted. The Trash page lists deleted goals with Deleted at and Deleted by; a banner reminds you that items are permanently deleted after 30 days unless restored. Expand a row to see children deleted with it.
  2. Click ⋯ on the goal → Restore.

Restoring brings back the goal together with the descendants that were deleted in the same action, with their check-ins, comments and alignment. Children deleted separately stay in Trash until you restore them too. Restoring needs manage permission on the goal.

Permanently delete

On the Trash page, click ⋯ → Permanently delete. The dialog reads Permanently delete this objective? This cannot be undone., with the same child checkboxes as a normal delete. Click Permanently delete. Anything left in Trash for 30 days is permanently deleted automatically.

Consider archiving or closing instead

Deleting is for goals that should never have existed. If the goal is real, there is usually a better home for it:

  • Archive it to take it out of the working set while keeping its full history — last quarter's finished goals, duplicates, or anything cluttering the list. Archiving never expires and reverses in one click (see Archive and unarchive OKRs).
  • Close it if the work ended and you want to keep its score in reviews and reports (see Close and score an OKR).
  • Set it to Postponed if it is only paused; postponing removes it from its parent's progress without deleting it.

Frequently asked questions

Can a delegate delete a goal? No. Delegates can edit and check in but deleting, restoring and permanently deleting need manage permission: owners, their managers and Rhythms Admins by default.

Can I delete a closed goal? Yes. Closed goals delete like any other, but keep them if you want them in historical reports.

What happens to check-ins and comments? They go to Trash with the goal and come back when you restore it. After permanent deletion they are gone.

Can I delete from chat? Yes. Ask Rhythms to delete a goal by name or short ID; chat deletes move the goal to Trash exactly like the UI, so you can still restore within 30 days.

Where did the "type Delete objective to confirm" step go? It was removed when Trash was introduced. Because every delete is recoverable for 30 days, a single click on Delete is enough.

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