# Deleting metadata items
As the Aristotle Metadata Registry is intended to be an authoritative record of all the ‘business intelligence’ around data, content cannot be permanently deleted from the registry. However, in order to facilitate the maintenance of an up-to-date registry, Aristotle supports the soft deletion of content, which removes it from being displayed in the registry. Soft deleted items can be restored if they are required again.
To protect audit reports, metadata can only be deleted from a user's Sandbox. To return metadata to a user's Sandbox it must be **removed** from all groups, including Workgroups, Stewardship Organizations and Registration Authorities.
### How to delete metadata from the Sandbox
{% hint style="info" %}
All users can delete items in their Sandbox at any time.
{% endhint %}
1. Select 'My Sandbox' from the left side panel.
2. Select the 'Item actions' button next to the metadata item you want to delete and select 'Delete item'.
### How to delete metadata that is registered
{% hint style="info" %}
Only users with the appropriate permissions can delete registered metadata.
{% endhint %}
1. Go to the item page and in the Info box select 'View registration history'.
2. Select 'Manage', then 'Delete'. The registration status will be removed.
### How to delete metadata from a workgroup
{% hint style="info" %}
Only Users with the appropriate permissions can delete metadata from a workgroup.
{% endhint %}
1. Select 'Workgroups' from the left side panel.
1. From the 'Item actions' dropdown that relates to the desired item, select 'Remove from workgroup'.
2\. Select 'Confirm', and the metadata will be sent to the sandbox of the user who created it. From there, it can be soft deleted.
### How to delete metadata from a Stewardship Organization
1. From the desired item's 'Actions' dropdown, select 'Change stewardship organization'.
2. Select the cross on the right side of the 'Move item into this stewardship organization' field.
3. Select 'Change Stewardship Organization'.
4. The item will now appear in the sandbox of the user who created it. From there, it can be soft deleted.
### How to delete multiple metadata items at once using bulk delete
1. Select 'Browse' from the registry's header.
2. Select 'Browse' from the 'Metadata' field.
3. Select the metadata item type you wish to delete.
4. Select the tickboxes of all of the items you wish to delete.
5. Select the 'Bulk Action' dropdown, then 'Bulk delete'.
6. If you wish to add more items, use the autocomplete field to search for, and add them to the list of items that will be deleted.
7. Select 'Bulk Delete' once you are satisifed with your list. The items will be deleted, but can be restored via the procedure outlined in [Restore Deleted Content](https://help.aristotlemetadata.com/creating-and-editing/restore-deleted-content).
