Delete and restore OKRs

Last updated: September 4, 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; 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 Delete (the last, red item).
  2. A dialog titled Delete this objective? (or key result, initiative) opens. If the goal has children, tick what should go with it:
    • Also delete its immediate child objectives, … key results, … initiatives: each checkbox appears only when the goal has children of that type, and removes just the direct children of that type.
    • Delete the entire hierarchy: removes every descendant, at every level.
  3. Click Delete. There is no typed confirmation.

Children aligned to more than one parent are never deleted with a parent; the dialog notes "Multi-aligned objects will not be deleted." 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 closing instead

If the goal was real work that ended, close it rather than delete it: a closed goal keeps its history and score for reviews and reports (see Closing and Scoring OKRs). Set a goal to Postponed if it is paused; postponing removes it from its parent's progress without deleting it. Delete goals that were created by mistake, are duplicates, or never became real.

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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