How to Delete Google Ad Draft

Cleaning up your Google Ads account often feels like a chore, but old campaign drafts stacking up can significantly add to the clutter. Finding and removing them is a quick win for staying organized and avoiding costly mistakes down the line. This article will walk you through exactly how to find and delete those drafts step-by-step and explain why it's a good habit to get into.

Why Bother Deleting Google Ads Drafts?

You might be wondering, "Do forgotten drafts really matter? They aren't spending any money." While that's true, letting them pile up can cause unforeseen problems. Maintaining a clean account isn't just about aesthetics, it’s about efficiency and preventing errors.

Reduce Digital Clutter

Think about a messy desk. You can still work, but finding what you need takes longer, and the chaos can be distracting. The same principle applies to your Google Ads account. When it's filled with dozens of abandoned drafts from past sales, old strategy ideas, and tests you never launched, navigating to what you actually need becomes a headache. A lean, organized account is faster to manage, especially when you're working with a team.

Avoid Confusion and Costly Errors

This is the most critical reason. An old draft can be a ticking time bomb. Imagine you created a test draft a few months ago for your Black Friday campaign with aggressive bids and a huge budget. Your team, trying to prepare for an upcoming summer sale, might stumble upon this old draft. Without proper context or clear naming, they could mistakenly apply its settings to a live campaign. Suddenly, your quiet July promotion is running with Black Friday-level spending, a mistake that could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars before you catch it. Deleting drafts that are no longer relevant eliminates this risk entirely.

Maintain a Clear Account History

When you look back at your account history or use the "change history" feature, you want to see a clear record of intentional actions. Old drafts add noise to this history, making it harder to track the meaningful changes you and your team have made. By keeping only active or relevant drafts, you ensure that your account's log remains a useful tool for analysis rather than a dumping ground for abandoned ideas.

First Things First: Where to Find Your Campaign Drafts

Before you can delete drafts, you need to find where Google Ads tucks them away. The interface can sometimes feel like a maze, but they're easy to locate once you know where to look. The location is the same whether you use the full Google Ads manager account or a single account.

Here’s how to get there:

1. Log in to your Google Ads account.
2. Once you're on the main overview screen, look to the navigation menu on the far left of your screen. Click on the “Campaigns” icon (it often looks like a small megaphone).
3. A sub-menu will appear right next to it. In this menu, locate and click on “Drafts.” This will take you to the campaign drafts page.

On this page, you’ll see a list of every campaign draft you've ever created and saved. The list will show you the draft name, its status ("Draft"), the original campaign it was based on, and the total number of changes you've made within it.

What if I Can't See the "Drafts" Option?

If you don't see "Drafts" in the menu, it’s most likely because you don't have any saved. The option may not appear if your account has a completely clean slate with a zero-draft history. If you're certain you've created drafts before and still don't see them, double-check that you're in the correct account, as it's a common oversight, especially for those managing multiple clients or businesses.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Deleting a Campaign Draft

Once you’ve navigated to the "Drafts" page and have your list in front of you, the actual deletion process is very straightforward. Unlike active campaigns, there's no checkbox to select, the removal option is directly associated with each draft in the list.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Locate the Draft: Scan the list on the Drafts page and find the specific one you want to erase. This is where good naming conventions become a lifesaver.
2. Hover to Reveal Options: Move your mouse cursor over the name of the draft you wish to delete. As you hover, two options will appear next to it on the right: "Resume" and "Remove."
3. Click "Remove": Click the "Remove" option. This isn't the final step, so don't worry if you click it by accident.
4. Confirm Your Decision: A confirmation pop-up window will appear, asking something like, “Are you sure you want to permanently remove this draft? This can’t be undone.” This is your final chance to make sure you're deleting the right one.
5. Finalize the Deletion: Click the blue "Remove" button on the pop-up to confirm. The draft will instantly be removed from your list and is permanently gone.

Repeat this process for any other outdated drafts you want to clear from your account.

What If I Can't Delete a Draft? Common Pitfalls and Solutions

Sometimes you’ll follow the steps perfectly, but you hit a snag. The "Remove" button might be grayed out, or you simply don’t see the option at all. This is almost always due to one of a few common issues.

Problem 1: Insufficient User Permissions

The most frequent reason you can't delete a draft is that you don't have the necessary access level in the Google Ads account. Not all users are created equal. There are a few key access levels:

• Admin: Has full control over the account, including managing users, billing, and deleting campaigns or drafts.
• Standard: Can edit and manage campaigns but might not have permission to make account-level changes or delete everything. Deleting drafts usually requires this level or higher.
• Read-only: Can view campaigns and reports but cannot make any changes whatsoever. If you have this role, the "Remove" button will not appear.

Solution: Check your access level by navigating to Tools & Settings > Access and Security. If you don't have Admin or Standard access, you'll need to contact a user with Admin permissions and ask them to either delete the draft for you or upgrade your access level.

Problem 2: The Draft Is Part of an Active Experiment

Google Ads drafts are also used to set up campaign experiments (A/B tests). If a draft is currently being used as a variation in a running experiment, Google won't let you delete it. This is a safety measure to prevent you from breaking an active test. You can't remove the blueprint while the experiment is still under construction.

Solution: You'll first need to end the experiment that the draft is linked to. You can find your experiments by navigating to the "Experiments" page in the same left-hand menu where you found "Drafts." Once you end the experiment, you should be able to return to the draft and delete it as normal.

Problem 3: Temporary Glitches

Let's face it: sometimes, software just acts strangely. If you have the correct permissions and the draft isn't part of an experiment, a simple bug could be the culprit.

Solution: The trusty tech-support classic often works here. Try logging out of your Google account and logging back in. If that doesn’t work, clear your browser's cache and cookies. As a last resort, trying a different browser (like Chrome if you're on Safari, or vice versa) can sometimes resolve these odd interface issues.

Best Practices for Managing Google Ads Drafts

Instead of letting drafts pile up until your next major cleanup, you can adopt a few simple habits to keep everything organized from the start. A proactive approach saves you time and reduces risks.

Use Descriptive Naming Conventions

A draft named "Campaign Search #2 - draft" is meaningless a month later. Get into the habit of giving your drafts clear, descriptive names. Include key information that will give you context at a glance.

A good format could be: [Date/Initiative] - [Campaign Type] - [Key Change] - Draft

For example:

• [Q4 Holiday 2024] - PMax - Add New Asset Groups - Draft
• [Price Test May] - Brand Search - Target CPA Bidding - Draft

This way, you and your teammates know exactly what each draft is for without having to open it and inspect the changes.

Conduct Regular Account Audits

Set a recurring time on your calendar - say, the first Friday of every quarter - to do a quick "spring cleaning" of your Google Ads account. During this 15-30 minute check-up, one of your to-do list items should be to review and remove obsolete campaign drafts. This regular maintenance prevents clutter from ever becoming overwhelming.

Delete Drafts Immediately Once a Decision Is Made

If you create a draft to brainstorm an idea or test a new structure and ultimately decide not to move forward with it, delete it right away. It's easy to think, "I'll just leave it here in case I change my mind," but this is how accounts get cluttered. If the idea is important, document it in a separate strategy document. Don't use your draft list as an idea backlog.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, deleting old Google Ads drafts is a simple housekeeping task that keeps your account tidy and prevents potential user errors. By regularly checking your drafts page and following a clear naming system, you can ensure your workspace remains clean, efficient, and easy to navigate for you and your team.

While keeping your campaigns tidy is smart, we know the real challenge is understanding performance across all your different marketing and sales platforms. Manually pulling reports from Google Ads, Google Analytics, Shopify, and your CRM takes hours you could be spending on strategy. We built Graphed to solve this. We connect to all your data sources, letting you create dashboards and get powerful insights in seconds just by asking questions in plain English - no more wrestling with complex tools or stale spreadsheets.