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FAQ: What's the difference between Archiving and Deleting a document?

Both Archive and Delete actions remove documents from the main active views in Zudello, but they have different purposes and implications:

Archive:

  • Purpose: To hide documents that are no longer actively needed but should be kept for record-keeping or potential future reference. Think of it like moving a file to an archive box.
  • Action: Changes the document's status to Archived.
  • Visibility: Archived documents are hidden from default list views but can usually be found by specifically filtering for the "Archived" status.
  • Reversibility: Archived documents can typically be Un-archived (reverted back to a previous status like Ready or Completed) if needed.
  • Data: All document data and history are preserved.
  • Use Case: Completed invoices from a previous financial year, old POs that are fully processed, documents kept for audit compliance beyond their active lifecycle.

Delete:

  • Purpose: To mark documents for permanent removal from the system, usually because they were created in error, are true duplicates, or are irrelevant spam.
  • Action: Changes the document's status to Deleted (this is usually a "soft delete").
  • Visibility: Deleted documents are hidden from all standard views and filters. Access typically requires specific administrative privileges or database queries.
  • Reversibility: Generally not reversible through the user interface. Recovery might be possible by Zudello support in specific circumstances shortly after deletion, but it's not guaranteed.
  • Data: The data is marked for deletion and may be permanently purged from the database after a defined retention period according to Zudello's data policies.
  • Use Case: Test documents, clear duplicates identified during upload, spam emails processed incorrectly, documents uploaded to the wrong module entirely.

In Summary:

  • Use Archive for documents you want to keep but hide from active views.
  • Use Delete for documents you want to permanently remove because they are errors or irrelevant. Be cautious, as deletion is generally irreversible.

See also: Deleting and Archiving Documents.