How To Delete Or Recover A Design In Canva (Step By Step)

If you’re a regular Canva user, chances are, you have tons of designs that need to be deleted permanently. The question is, how do you make sure that once you throw your design in the trash, no one else can fish it out and claim it as their own? The process is simple but requires an extra step many people forget to do.

To permanently delete a design in Canva, click on the three dots icon found in the upper corner of your design thumbnail in the Home window. Then choose Move To Trash from the menu that appears. To permanently delete a design, go to the Trash window, repeat these steps and click Delete Permanently.

If you’re a Canva Pro user, your account has a 100 GB space limit. If you are a free Canva user, you only have 5 gigs to work with. So deleting old designs permanently is important not just for staying organized, but for making sure you don’t go over your limit. I will show you how to delete your designs on both desktop and mobile. Not only that, but I’ll also show you how you can bring your designs back if you made a mistake.

How To Permanently Delete A Design In Canva

First, I’m going to show you the quickest and easiest way to delete your design forever. I will cover this for designs only you can access, and also for shared projects.

Here’s an old design in my Canva projects folder that’s out of season and needs to be deleted permanently.

Step 1: Trash Your Project

On the Canva Homepage, hover your mouse over the project you wish to delete and click on the Three Dots. Under the options given, choose Move To Trash.

Step 2: Open Your Trash

The project disappears from your homepage, but that doesn’t mean that it’s permanently deleted. Next, we need to open up the trash by clicking the Trash Button in the Side Menu.

Once you’ve opened your trash, hover over the project you just deleted and click on the Three Dots. Now you can select Delete Permanently.

Step 3: Hit The Red Button

You will be presented with a warning about how deleting the project can not be undone. When you’re ready, click the red button that says Delete Permanently.

The warning is not fooling around either. Once you hit the Delete Permanently button, your project is gone forever.

How To Delete Shared Designs In Canva

If you use Canva with a team, there will be times you need to delete a project and make sure your team can no longer access it.

Step 1: Find Your Shared Project

To delete a shared design, first, click on Shared With You to easily find the project you wish to delete. This may help you find the design you wish to delete faster than the conventional way.

Step 2: Trash Your Project

Once you’ve located the project, hover over it and click on the Three Dots.

Then, select Move To Trash.

Step 3: Open Your Trash

Moving your project to the trash removes it from the homepage, but if you want to delete it permanently, click Trash to see all the projects you’ve recently deleted.

Hover over the project in question and click on the Three Dots. Select Delete Permanently.

Step 4: Hit The Red Button

If you are absolutely sure that you want to erase the project from your account and every other account you’ve shared the project with, click Delete Permanently.

How To Recover A Deleted Design In Canva

So you just deleted a design because it’s months out of season. Then it hits you: “I’ll need that design when the season rolls back around!”

Don’t worry. I’ll teach you now how to recover your recently deleted design.

Step 1: Open Your Trash

On the Canva Homepage, click on Trash in the Side Menu.

Step 2: Locate And Restore

Once your trash is open, locate the project that you would like to recover and hover your mouse over it. Click on the Three Dots to open up the options and select Restore.

Step 3: Double-Check

To confirm that your project is restored, go back to the Canva Homepage and check under Recent Designs. You should find your recently deleted project back and ready to edit.

The one thing to remember about your trash is that it will automatically empty after 30 days. So if you have any second thoughts about deleting your designs, you have 30 days to make your decision to restore them.

How To Delete A Design In Canva Mobile

When you need to delete your designs on the go, you’ll be happy to know that you can do so on mobile just as quickly and easily!

Step 1: Locate And Trash Your Design

On the mobile version of the Canva Homepage, tap on Your Projects.

Tap on the Three Dots in the upper right corner of the project you wish to delete to bring up the options. Select Move To Trash.

Step 2: Find Your Design In The Trash

The project disappears from your recent designs, but your project is not yet permanently deleted. To permanently delete your project, open your Trash from the Canva Homescreen.

Step 3: Delete Your Design Permanently

Find your project and tap on the Three Dots. Then, select Delete Permanently.

You will receive a warning that you should take seriously. Tap on Delete Permanently, only if you truly want to delete your project forever.

How To Recover A Design In Canva Mobile

What’s great about making mistakes in Canva, is that you can fix them, even on the go!

Here’s how you recover a recently deleted design on your phone.

Step 1: Open Your Trash

On the mobile version of the Canva Home Page, tap on Trash.

Step 2: Restore Your Design

Once your Trash is open, locate the design you would like to bring back to life. Tap on the Three Dots in the right corner of the project. When the option pops up, select Restore.

Step 3: Double-Check

Trust but verify when it comes to any computer program. After tapping Restore, go back to the Homepage and tap on Your Projects.

Under Recent, make sure that the project you restored is there. If it isn’t, go back to your Trash and restore it again.

A big advantage to using Canva Pro is the added storage space you have to store all your designs. As a Canva Pro user, you won’t need to delete your designs as frequently to save space, but it can be a good idea to keep yourself organized. If you’re currently using the free version of Canva, check out my Canva Pro vs Canva Free comparison to see what you may be missing.