Deleting works differently for a draft and for a story that is already
published. Drafts go straight away. Published stories go through a
grace period you can still reverse.
Deleting a draft
- Open
/my-stories. - Switch to the Drafts tab.
- Press "Delete" on the draft.
- Press it again — the button now reads "Click again to delete".
That two-step inline confirm is there so a stray tap cannot cost you a
draft. There is no dialog and no waiting: the second press does it.
Deleting a published story
The "Delete" action on a published story is only present when the
feature is switched on for your account. If you cannot see it on the
row, that is why — it is not tucked away in a menu you have not found
yet.
When it is available, the dialog spells out what will happen:
This story will be removed from search and all listings immediately.
Readers who already started can finish reading until the grace
period ends.
So the story leaves discovery at once, while readers who were already
in the middle of it are not cut off mid-sentence.
You can change your mind
Afterwards the row keeps a "Deleted" badge and a "Restore"
button until the deletion finalises. Pressing "Restore" in that
window brings the story back. A mistaken delete is recoverable — for a
while, not forever, so do not sit on it.
When deletion is blocked
Two situations stop a deletion, and both clear on their own:
- The story is entered in an active contest. A story enters a
contest simply by carrying the contest's tag, so this can be true
without you having filled in any form. Wait for the contest to
finish, then delete. - Its audio is still generating. Narration takes several minutes
per chapter. Wait for it to complete, then delete.
Neither is a fault you need to report. Try again once the condition
has passed.
Deleting is not "making it private"
There is no unpublish action on OutaStory and no private mode.
Deleting is not a quiet way to take a story off the shelf and put it
back next month — it removes the story, with a limited window in which
you can restore it.
If what you want is to change a story rather than remove it, editing
a published story creates the next version and leaves the live one
alone until you publish. That is in
editing a published story.