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My Question (most likely a duplicate, but I couldn't find such):

If I post something (i.e a question or an answer) and it gets say 2 upvotes, and I delete said post do I then lose all the reputation I got from the 2 upvotes?

In a similar fashion, if I delete a post with downvotes, do I gain back reputation?

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    $\begingroup$ You could check some older posts here, such as: Does reputation change if an answer gets deleted due to deletion of original post by vote(s)? or Question about post that was closed and deleted.. (You can probably find other similar questions.) $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Jun 18, 2020 at 4:29
  • $\begingroup$ This post, @MartinSleziak, is asking whether, when the asker deletes their own upvoted question, or an answerer deletes their own upvoted answer, does the rep from upvotes go away, and the answer is yes. Your links discuss what happens when a post is closed and or deleted by others. The question here is about the consequences to rep earned on posts that the author of the post deletes. Upon deletion, the rep earned is lost. And yes to the second question. But one needs to be careful about deleting too many of one's downvoted questions. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Jun 18, 2020 at 12:41
  • $\begingroup$ @amWhy I do not think that the type of deletion matters (whether it was self-delete, roomba, votes), but I might be wrong. Of course, feel free to expand your comment to an answer if you have more details to add or some information to the contrary. One thing to be added to your comment is that 60-days exception, when the reputation is not lost upon deletion. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Jun 18, 2020 at 12:59
  • $\begingroup$ I can test this, @MartinSleziak, by temporarily deleting a highly upvoted answer for long ago. To see what happens. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Jun 18, 2020 at 13:14
  • $\begingroup$ I did that just now, I temporarily deleted an old post with 30 upvotes. I'll report back whether I lose 300 rep or not, as a result. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Jun 18, 2020 at 13:16
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    $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak It appears you are right! My deletion of an old answer of mine (certainly greater than 60 days old) with 30 upvotes, rendered no change in rep. Thanks for your comments and your answer below. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Jun 18, 2020 at 13:28
  • $\begingroup$ @amWhy Why the must one be cautious of deleting their own downvoted posts? $\endgroup$
    – Tauist
    Jun 18, 2020 at 20:01
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    $\begingroup$ @Tauist, I think users in danger of a posting ban have been known to delete their own downvoted posts in the mistaken belief that this will avert a ban. My understanding is that downvoted posts still count toward a ban, whether deleted or not. This may be what amWhy had in mind. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Jun 18, 2020 at 23:38

1 Answer 1

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Quote from the FAQ post "How does “Reputation” work?" (current revision).

Deleting and undeleting posts may reverse reputation effects as well, if these posts have votes. Actions previously taken on deleted posts cease to affect reputation within five minutes (source), unless the post meets both the following criteria (in which case the reputation effects will be permanent) (source):

  • The post had a score of at least +3
  • The post has been visible on the site for at least 60 days

So there is an exception - posts with score three or higher and visible for 60 days. Other than that, the reputation changes coming from the votes on the given post are reversed on deletion.

As far as I can tell, the type of deletion does not matter, it works the same for self-deleted posts, posts deleted by delete votes of other users, posts deleted by roomba. (At least I did not notice in the FAQ that some of those should be different from others.)

For a self-deleted answer, this is quite easy to test - you can simply delete it, wait a bit to see how your reputation changes. Then undelete it - and after a while the reputation should return back to the original value. (You can delete your own answer unless it is accepted. It is more difficult for questions, since the situation when the software will not allow you to delete your own question seems to be more frequent - it depends mainly on the number of answers and whether they are upvoted.)

There are also a few related posts on this site:

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