How do you delete a work item?

There is no permanent delete feature for Work Items in this version of the product (2005, 2008). Instead, you put the WI into a terminal state (closed, obsolete, etc.)


There is now a tool in codeplex for this, called TFS Power Pack:
KillBill - Stops a Team Build currently running on a build server.
WorkItem Terminator - Permanently deletes a work item from the TFS database.
http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=TfsPowerPack

Or delete them via this SQL statement.

Declare @DELID int set @DELID = @WorkItemId

DELETE FROM [TfsWorkItemTracking].[dbo].[WorkItemLongTexts] WHERE ID = @DELID
DELETE FROM [TfsWorkItemTracking].[dbo].[WorkItemsAre] WHERE ID = @DELID
DELETE FROM [TfsWorkItemTracking].[dbo].[WorkItemsWere] WHERE ID = @DELID
DELETE FROM [TfsWorkItemTracking].[dbo].[WorkItemsLatest] WHERE ID = @DELID