Archive pull requests

Repository administrators can archive a pull request to remove it from public view, providing a moderation option between leaving a pull request up and permanently deleting it.

Who can use this feature?

Repository administrators

In this article

About archiving pull requests

Archiving a pull request removes it from public view while preserving its history for repository administrators. This provides a safer moderation path when they need to take a pull request out of public view without permanently deleting it.

When a pull request is archived:

  • The pull request is only visible to repository administrators. Visitors without administrator access to the repository receive a 404 error.
  • The pull request is automatically closed and locked.

When you unarchive a pull request, it becomes visible again, but it remains closed and locked. You can reopen and unlock it separately if needed.

Archiving a pull request

  1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  2. Under your repository name, click Pull requests.

    Screenshot of the main page of a repository. In the horizontal navigation bar, a tab, labeled "Pull requests," is outlined in dark orange.

  3. Click the pull request you want to archive.

  4. Scroll to the bottom of the right sidebar. Then click Archive pull request.

  5. Read the information about archiving the pull request, then confirm that you want to archive it.

Unarchiving a pull request

You can find the PR by using the is:archived qualifier. See, Searching issues and pull requests.

  1. Open the pull request you want to unarchive.
  2. In the right sidebar, click Unarchive pull request.
  3. Read the information about unarchiving the pull request, then confirm that you want to unarchive it.