Archiving and deleting contracts
Archive contracts you're done working on to clear the dashboard without losing the history, or permanently delete a contract — including all its stored versions and chat history — when you no longer need it.
When a contract is dead, on hold, or no longer relevant, you have two ways to get it out of your active workspace: archive (reversible, keeps everything) and delete (permanent, removes the files from storage). Signed contracts aren't archived — they stay in the Signed status, which is the proper closed state for a fully executed deal.
Archive vs. delete at a glance
| Action | Removes from dashboard | Keeps the data | Keeps the stored files | Reversible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes — unarchive any time |
| Delete | Yes | No | No — files removed from storage | No |
Pick archive by default. Reserve delete for contracts that were uploaded by mistake or that you have a real reason to remove from storage.
Archive
Archiving moves a contract into the Archived status. Archived contracts are hidden from the default contract list but are kept in full — every version, every redline, every comment, every chat, and the audit log all stay intact.
When to archive
- The negotiation died and you want it off your active dashboard.
- The contract is on long-term hold and you don't want SLA timers running against it.
- The deal is no longer relevant for any other reason, but you still want to keep the record.
For signed deals, leave the contract in the Signed status instead — that's its proper closed state, not Archived.
How to archive
- Open the contract.
- Click the More actions (
⋯) menu in the header. - Choose Archive.
Finding archived contracts
In the contracts list, switch the status filter to Archived (or All) to see them again. The list filter defaults to active statuses, so archived contracts won't appear in your normal view.
Unarchive
To bring a contract back into active review:
- Open the contract.
- Click the More actions (
⋯) menu. - Choose Unarchive.
Unarchiving puts the contract back into In review, the same status a fresh upload starts in. You can then move it to any other status as normal.
Both archive and unarchive are recorded in the contract's audit log with the actor and timestamp.
Delete
Deleting a contract is permanent. It removes:
- The contract row, along with every version, redline decision, comment, assignment, and chat attached to it.
- The stored
.docxfiles for every version from durable storage.
The contract's audit-log entries are preserved, so you keep a permanent
record of what existed and when it was deleted. There is no "Deleted" tab
and no recovery of the contract content from the UI. If you need a
contract back after deleting it, you'll have to re-upload the original
.docx from your own copy.
When to delete
- You uploaded the wrong file.
- The contract contains data that needs to be removed (a privacy request, a misfiled document, a test upload).
- Your retention policy requires removal after a certain period.
For normal "I'm done with this" cleanup, prefer archive.
How to delete
- Open the contract.
- Click the More actions (
⋯) menu in the header. - Choose Delete contract.
- Confirm.
Fusial asks you to confirm — "Permanently delete this contract? All versions and stored document files will be removed." — and then performs the deletion. You'll be returned to your contracts list once it's done.
What gets removed from storage
Fusial deletes the .docx blob for every version of the contract from its
object storage as part of the same operation. If a storage delete fails
for some reason (an outage, a transient error), the contract row is still
removed but Fusial will surface the failure so support can clean up the
orphaned files. The contract itself is gone either way.
Permissions
- Owners, admins, and members can archive, unarchive, and delete contracts they have access to.
- Viewers can do neither — these are mutating actions, and viewers are read-only.
See Role permissions for the full breakdown.
Audit log
Archive, unarchive, and delete are all recorded as audit events on the organization:
- Archived — the contract was archived.
- Unarchived — the contract was restored to In review.
- Soft deleted — the contract was permanently deleted. The audit payload includes the title, the prior status, the version count, and the list of storage keys that were removed.
The deletion audit event is preserved even after the contract row is gone, so you have a permanent record of what was removed and by whom.