{"section":"tutorials","requestedLocale":"en","requestedSlug":"deleting-a-category","locale":"en","slug":"deleting-a-category","path":"docs/en/tutorials/catalog/categories/deleting-a-category.md","branch":"main","content":"For data security reasons, it's not possible to individually delete a category after creating it on the VTEX platform. \n\n## Deactivating a category\n\nIf you do not want to display a specific category to your customers, you can deactivate it in your store. This way, it will be listed only in the Admin. To deactivate a category, follow the step-by-step instructions below:\n\n1. In the VTEX Admin, go to __Catalog__, or type __Catalog__ in the search bar at the top of the page.\n2. Click on __Categories__.\n3. Select the category you want to deactivate.\n4. Click on the `Actions` button.\n5. Click on `Edit`.\n6. Uncheck the box that says __Active | Category is active on site__, as illustrated in the image below: ![img inativarcategoria EN](https://cdn.statically.io/gh/vtexdocs/help-center-content/refs/heads/main/docs/en/tutorials/catalog/categories/deleting-a-category_1.png)\n7. Click on `Save`.\n\n## Deleting all categories\n\nAnother option is to [empty the catalog](/en/docs/tutorials/database-maintenance-full-cleanup) and delete all categories, brands, and specifications simultaneously. To do that, you must delete products and SKUs before, as described in the steps below:\n\n1. Type the URL below into your browser: `{accountName}.myvtex.com/admin/Site/fullcleanup.aspx`\n2. Click on `Delete Products and SKUs`. Warning: your products, SKUs, and related items will be permanently removed from your store.\n3. Then click on `Delete Categories and brands`. Warning: your categories, tags, fields, and related items will be permanently removed from your store.\n\n> ⚠️ For security reasons, only the [Sponsor user](/en/docs/tutorials/what-is-the-sponsor-user) of the account has access to the database cleaning feature. If another user tries to access this page, all buttons will be disabled.\n\n### Related articles\n- [Adding a category](/en/docs/tutorials/registering-a-category)\n- [Adding a product](/en/tutorial/registering-a-product)\n- [Adding a SKU](/en/tutorial/registering-sku)"}