Section 1: Archive vs. Delete Explained

Choosing whether to archive or delete depends on why the document is no longer needed for active processing.

Archiving:

• Purpose: Use for documents that were legitimately processed (perhaps manually outside of Zudello, or are simply old) and need to be kept for record-keeping or audit purposes, but should be hidden from standard day-to-day views.
• Action: Moves the document to an Archived status (typically a COMPLETE type status).
• Visibility: Archived documents are hidden from default list/board/table views unless the "Archived" status filter is specifically selected.
• Data: All document data and history are fully retained.
• Reversibility: Archived documents can usually be "Unarchived" to return them to their previous status.

Deleting:

• Purpose: Use primarily for documents that were uploaded or created in error and should not have been in Zudello (e.g., accidental uploads, test documents, true duplicates identified before processing).
• Action: Moves the document to a Deleted status (typically a CLOSED type status).
• Visibility: Deleted documents are hidden from all standard views. Access might be restricted to administrators or require specific search parameters.
• Data: While hidden from the UI, the underlying data is often retained in the database for audit purposes (soft delete), but associated links (like allocations) might be cleared.
• Reversibility: Recovering deleted documents usually requires backend intervention by Zudello support; it's not a standard user action.

Rule of Thumb:

• If the document represents a valid business transaction that occurred (even if processed elsewhere) -> Archive.
• If the document should never have been in Zudello -> Delete.

What Happens Next?

Now that you understand the difference, let's see how to perform these actions.

Next Section: Performing Archive/Delete Actions

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Related How-To Guides:

• Deleting and Archiving Documents