What Does 'Deleted by Tweet Author' Mean?

“This post was deleted by the post author” means the person who wrote the post removed it themselves, so X no longer shows it to anyone. X displays the notice where the post used to appear, such as above the replies to it or inside a quote post, so the conversation still makes sense. X didn’t remove it, and you weren’t blocked.

Deleted posts leave X entirely, including search. Whether a copy can still be found is covered in how to find deleted tweets. For the parts of a post and where its ID lives, see what a tweet is on X.

Where Does the “Deleted by the Post Author” Notice Appear?

The notice appears wherever another post still points to the deleted one: in a reply thread, in a quote post, or in a link to the post. Listed below are the 3 places you’ll see it.

1. Above replies, when the post being replied to was deleted.
2. Inside a quote post, where the quoted post used to be embedded.
3. On the post’s own page, when you open its link.

Reposts of a deleted post disappear entirely rather than showing a notice (X Help Center).

How Is “Deleted by the Post Author” Different From “This Post Is Unavailable”?

“Deleted by the post author” names the cause, while “This post is unavailable” covers several causes, such as a protected account, a deactivated account or a deleted post. X lists those cases in its notices guide (X Help Center). The full list is in why a tweet says this post is unavailable.

Notice	What it tells you
This post was deleted by the post author	The author removed it
This post is unavailable	One of several reasons; the author, X or the account’s settings made it unviewable
This post is from a suspended account	X suspended the author’s account

Can You Still See a Post That Was Deleted by Its Author?

Not on X: the post is gone for everyone, and X doesn’t restore it. A copy survives only if it was saved before deletion, for example in a Wayback Machine capture, a screenshot, a news article, or the author’s own downloaded X archive. If you have the post’s ID from its link, the ID still tells you exactly when it was posted; see how to view a tweet by ID on X.

What Happens to Replies When a Post Is Deleted?

Replies stay on X under their own authors’ accounts, shown with the deleted-post notice above them. Each reply belongs to its author, so the original author deleting their post doesn’t delete anyone else’s replies.

How Do You Keep Posts That Might Be Deleted?

To keep posts that might be deleted, save them as they appear: archive the page in the Wayback Machine, screenshot it, or collect posts as data. apidojo’s Twitter Scraper Unlimited on Apify can collect an account’s posts on a schedule, so a copy exists if the author later deletes them; it can’t recover posts deleted before you collected them (Apify). The setup is in how to monitor a keyword on X with an API.