Improving GitLab's deletion flow: What to expect in coming months

At GitLab, we're committed to continuously improving your experience across our platform. Today, we're excited to announce significant enhancements to our deletion flow for groups and projects. We are rolling out a series of improvements designed to protect your data, simplify recovery, and create a more intuitive experience across all pricing tiers.

Why we're making these changes

Our current deletion flow has some inconsistencies that can lead to frustrating experiences. Free tier users have had limited or no options for recovering accidentally deleted content, projects in personal namespaces haven't had the same protections as those in groups, and group namespace paths have remained locked after deletion, preventing immediate reuse.

We've heard your feedback, and we're addressing these pain points with a comprehensive redesign of our deletion flow that will be rolled out in multiple iterations.

What has changed already

Over the past quarter, we have implemented fundamental improvements to create a consistent deletion experience across all pricing tiers. These changes have eliminated the frustration of accidentally deleting important content with no recovery option.

• Pending deletion for all users: All deleted projects and groups now enter a "pending deletion" state before being permanently deleted, regardless of their pricing tier.
• Self-service recovery: You can now restore your own content without contacting support, giving you more control and autonomy over your data.
• Clear status indicators: We have standardized how deletion status is displayed across the platform, making it immediately clear when content is pending deletion.
• Extended recovery window: On July 10, 2025, we increased the pending deletion period from 7 to 30 days on GitLab.com. This means you now have ample time to recover from accidental deletions.

What's coming next

Currently in development

Building on the foundation established in our first iteration, we are further enhancing your deletion experience with two key improvements:

• Admin area consistency: Deletions initiated from the Admin area will follow the same pending deletion process as deletions initiated directly from the group or project level, creating a unified experience across all access points.
• Immediate path reuse: When you delete a project or group, its namespace path will be automatically renamed, allowing you to immediately reuse the original path for new content. This will remove the waiting period currently required to reuse namespace paths.

Planned for future release

The final phase will introduce a redesigned deletion experience that completes our vision for a modern, intuitive deletion system:

• Centralized "Trash" interface: All your deleted content will be accessible in a dedicated "Trash" section, providing a familiar paradigm similar to what you're used to in other applications.
• Clear action separation: We will create a clear distinction between "Delete" (temporary, recoverable) and "Delete Permanently" (irrevocable) actions to prevent accidental data loss.
• Bulk management: You'll be able to restore or permanently delete multiple items at once, making cleanup and recovery more efficient.

How these changes benefit you

These enhancements deliver several key benefits that will transform your experience with GitLab's deletion functionality.

• Protection against data loss is provided through pending deletion and self-service recovery available across all tiers, giving you a safety net against accidental deletions. The consistent experience ensures the same deletion flow applies to all projects and groups, eliminating inconsistencies across the platform.

• You'll gain greater control through enhanced visibility and management options for deleted content, with a familiar interface that makes recovery intuitive. Improved workflow efficiency will result from immediate path reuse and bulk management capabilities that streamline your content organization process.

• Most importantly, you'll have peace of mind knowing that the extended 30-day recovery window ensures ample opportunity to recover important data, while the clear separation between temporary and permanent deletion actions prevents accidental data loss.

Your feedback matters

As always, we value your input. Please leave feedback in the feedback issue.