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I recently posted a question before realizing it needed some revision. I deleted the post intending to edit and undelete later before learning you cannot edit self-deleted questions.

Normally I would copy the markdown via the edit screen to revise offline, but I can't retrieve the original markdown without access to the post editor.

How do I access the markdown of a question I posted and deleted myself?

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2 Answers 2

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You can view the markdown of a self-deleted question through the post's revision history.

  • Find the deleted post you want the markdown for

    deleted question

  • Open the post's revision history

    • If the post had any edits, you can click on the "edited [x time] ago" text under the post.
    • If "edited x time ago" is missing due to there being no edits, manually go to https://<se-site>.com/posts/<post-id>/revisions. (Example)

  • Find the revision you want to edit and click "Source"

    Revision history

  • Copy the post markdown from the page

    Markdown

At this point, you can paste the markdown into an offline text editor to revise until you are ready to undelete and edit the original post. You can also draft a new question and paste your text in the editor if you want to preview before undeleting.

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  • If using keyboard shortcuts, I found it easier to do 1. Select post 2. G (for "go to") 3. R (for "post revisions"). So that would be J -> G -> R for most posts, or for questions specifically U -> G -> R. Commented Jul 7 at 5:44
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I copy the text of the deleted post and paste it using the Paste as Markdown extension for Chrome/Brave/Firefox.

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  • This is a lossy method, the extension will recreate the markdown code from what's displayed, you're not gonna get the same markdown as the one in the post. It's also not gonna work with SE-specific markdown elements, let alone MathJax. Commented Jul 3 at 6:50
  • @RedStoneMatt correct, I just do it for simple markdown (link, bullet list, etc) Commented Jul 3 at 14:00

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