Can You Edit Articles on Medium After Publishing? (Solved)

It happens without fail: As soon as I publish an article on Medium, I notice a glaring typo, misspelling, or wonky formatting.

Can you edit articles on Medium after publishing?

Yes, you can edit articles on Medium after publishing. You can edit published Medium articles that you publish to your own profile or to a publication. To edit a published article, go to the article, click on the three dots at the top right corner of the article, and then click Edit Story.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about editing articles on Medium after publishing.

Can You Edit a Published Article on Medium? (Official Answer)

(This post may have afilliate links. Please see my full disclosure)
Redheaded Woman on a laptop in a cafe—Can You Edit Articles on Medium After Publishing
I created this image with Jasper Art and Canva—Can You Edit Articles on Medium After Publishing?

You can edit any article you’ve published on the platform, thanks to the fact that you retain ownership of your content.

That’s right: even after you hit publish, you’re still the primary holder of the publishing rights.

No, Medium doesn’t own your content (many people ask this question).

That means if you spot a typo after you hit the publish button, you can fix it up without having to unpublish and republish the piece. If you want to update an article with new information, you can do that too.

And if you want to change the title or subheadings of your article, you’re free to do that as well.

Your readers will appreciate your efforts to keep your articles accurate and up-to-date.

Can You Edit a Medium Article That You Published To Your Profile?

Yes, you can edit an article that you publish to your Medium profile.

You publish to your main profile anytime that you write an article and hit the “publish” button. After you publish an article, you can go back to edit any part of the article.

You could even delete the entire article if you wanted.

Can You Edit a Medium Article That You Published in a Publication?

You can also edit Medium articles that you publish to Medium publications.

When you finish an article, you have the option to submit it to a publication (basically like a magazine that exists on the Medium platform). Most publications are run by other Medium writers.

Some big publications are even run by Medium staff members.

The size or owner of the publication doesn’t matter. You can still go in and edit an article on Medium after you publish it with any publication.

How To Edit a Published Story on Medium

Editing a published story on Medium is easy.

Here are the simple steps:

  1. Open the published article
  2. Click on the three black dots (…) at the top right corner of the published article
  3. Click on Edit Story in the drop-down list of options
  4. Edit your story
  5. When you’re finished, click the SAVE and PUBLISH button at the top of the article

Here is a screenshot showing you where to find those three “dots”:

Pretty much the same process works on your phone or other mobile devices.

I also made this video where I show a complete walkthrough of how to edit published articles on Medium:

YouTube Video by Writing Secrets – Can You Edit Articles on Medium After Publishing?

How Much Can You Edit a Published Article on Medium?

As a writer, it’s important to know your rights and responsibilities when it comes to editing your work.

After all, once you hit publish, your article is out there for the world to see. But how much can you really edit a published article?

The short answer is: you can edit it as much as you want.

You can edit:

  • The title
  • The subtitle
  • Images
  • Quotes
  • Grammar mistakes
  • Misspelled words
  • Links
  • CTAs (Calls to Action)
  • Videos
  • Subheadings
  • Formatting
  • Examples
  • Tables or charts

You can even unpublish or delete it if you want. However, you should probably only make minor edits to less than 20% of the article. Any more than 20% starts to sound like a complete rewrite.

That’s fine if you published to your own profile or publication.

But if you drastically change an article published to someone else’s publication without permission, then they might not like it. They may decide to unpublish the article and block you from writing for them ever again.

So, if you need to make major edits to a published article, it’s best to get permission first.

That way, everyone will be happy with the final product.

Should You Edit a Published Story on Medium?

Once you hit publish on a Medium story, it can be tempting to just leave it as is and move on to the next project.

After all, it’s already out there in the world, and you can’t take it back.

But just because you can’t take it back doesn’t mean you shouldn’t edit a published Medium article. In fact, there are several good reasons to do so.

First, editing a story shows that you are a professional writer who takes pride in your work.

It sends the message that you are willing to put in the extra effort to ensure that your stories are of the highest quality. Second, editing can help to avoid embarrassing mistakes or outdated information.

If you spot a mistake after your story has been published, editing is the best way to fix it.

And finally, editing can help to make your content more readable and accurate. Even if there are no glaring errors, taking the time to edit your story can make a big difference in how well it is received by readers.

However, here’s when you shouldn’t edit a published story:

  • When a publication asks you no to
  • When editing might hurt your revenue
  • When the edit isn’t important

Final Thoughts: Can You Edit Articles on Medium After Publishing?

I regularly edit articles after I publish them on Medium.

Usually, it’s just to fix a random misspelled word (or wrong word), but I do it almost every time I publish. I’ve never had a single issue with it.

If you want to learn more about Medium, check out the articles I’ve hand-selected below.

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