Who is this article for?

Users who want to permanently remove data from their site.

Module permissionsand item Ownership or higher access are required for most of the steps.

As you use the system, you may find that data builds up and ends up creating unnecessary noise in Reports. To counteract that, you can archive, deactivate, or delete the outdated items. This article will walk you through how to delete items you no longer need.

In this article:

1. Creating offline backups
2. Deleting data
   • Notebook
   • List
3. Deleting multiple items
4. Deleting linked data
   • Queries
   • Feeder PIs
   • Reports
5. Further reading

1. Creating offline backups

Before deleting data from your site, we recommend exporting it and storing it offline for future reference.

Use the following Report Layouts to create a data export in a format that will make re-importing data easier later:

• Import Template – Actions
• Import Template – Roles
• Import Template – Users
• Import Template – PI Data Collection Settings
• Import Template – Local PIs
• Import Template – PI Values, Annual Targets or Notes
• Import Template – Risks

If you don't see these templates in your Layouts, contact our Support Team to get them added.

2. Deleting data

Deleting an item will permanently remove it and any sub-items from your site. There are a couple of places where you can perform the deletion.

Notebook

To delete an item from its notebook page, click its title and select 'Delete' from the dropdown.

List

To delete an item from a list it appears in, right-click its row and select 'Delete' from the dropdown.

3. Deleting multiple items

You can delete multiple items at once from the list view.

To do so:

1. Click the first item for deletion.
2. Hold down Ctrl.
3. Continue selecting items with left click.
4. Right-click one of the selected items.
5. Select 'Delete'.
6. Confirm deletion in the pop-up.

When deleting consecutive items in the list, you can hold down Shift after left-clicking the first item and select the final item in the list to highlight them all.

4. Deleting linked data

Queries

Attempting to delete a Query used to drive a Portal component will result in an 'Unable to Delete' error message. This is to prevent Portal Components from breaking unexpectedly when the Query is removed.

To delete it, click the link in the pop-up to open the Portal(s) using the Query, remove it from the Component, and re-attempt deletion.

Feeder PIs

Attempting to delete a PI used in a Formula will result in the option being greyed out.

To delete it, switch to the 'Formulas' tab in the PI notebook to identify the formula it's being used in, remove it from the Formula, and re-attempt deletion.

Reports

You can set up automatic Report deletion to keep on top of your Report volumes.

5. Further reading

• Identifying old data on your site
• Deactivating and archiving data on your site
• Setting up automatic Report deletion