---
title: "Introduction"
manual: "Delete Hidden"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/mfd/delete_hidden:introduction@main"
source: "Introduction/Index.rst"
rendered: "2026-10-07T14:03:07+00:00"
---

# Introduction {#introduction}

## What does it do? {#what-does-it-do}

This extension soft-deletes hidden `tt_content` records that have been
hidden for longer than a configurable number of days, together with their
recursive [b13/container](https://github.com/b13/container) children —
so nested container content doesn't turn into orphaned records once its
parent is gone.

The cleanup logic is available both as a CLI command
(`typo3 delete_hidden:cleanup`) and as a TYPO3 Scheduler task, so it can be
run interactively (with a `--dry-run` preview) or scheduled to run
automatically.

## How it works {#how-it-works}

1.  `FinderService` queries `tt_content` for records where `hidden = 1`,
    `t3ver_wsid = 0`, and `tstamp` is older than the given threshold. It then
    traverses `tx_container_parent` to also collect the (recursive) container
    children of every match, regardless of their own hidden flag or age.
    Pages flagged with `tx_delete_hidden_exclude = 1` — and their entire page
    subtree — are skipped.
1.  `CleanupService` enforces a safety cap (default 500 records per run) and
    delegates every deletion to TYPO3's `DataHandler` — no direct SQL is ever
    used. Any `DataHandler` error aborts the run immediately and is reported
    back to the caller.
1.  `CleanupCommand` exposes the service as a Symfony Console command, and
    `CleanupTask` exposes it as a Scheduler task.

## Why is this needed? {#why-is-this-needed}

Editors frequently hide content elements instead of deleting them —
temporarily, "just in case", or because deleting felt too permanent at the
time. Over the years this leaves behind a growing number of hidden records
that nobody removes, bloating the database and cluttering exports, backups,
and searches. This extension gives editors and integrators a safe,
predictable way to soft-delete genuinely stale hidden content — with a
dry-run preview, a per-run safety cap, and a page-level opt-out for content
that must never be touched automatically.

## Screenshots {#screenshots}

This extension has no backend module or user interface — it works entirely
through the CLI command and the Scheduler task.