PURGE Record removes the Record and everything in it from the system permanently. It is on the Record screen under the Admin Actions menu in the footer and is available to Administrators with edit rights on the Record. Delete Record, in the Other Actions menu, only moves a Record to the Recycle Bin, where it can be restored; a purge cannot be undone.


You are asked to confirm twice, the second time with a reminder that the action is not reversible. Once you confirm, the following are removed for good:

  • The Record itself and all of its data: header fields, line items and table data.
  • Every document in the Record, including the stored files, their revisions, annotations, approvals and full-text index.
  • Notes on the Record and on its documents.
  • Its current workflow items, its collaboration portals, and its asset assignment history and requests.
  • Its tags, including every user's Favorite entry for it, its view history, and the Change Log entries written for it.


All that is left is a single Change Log entry recording who purged the Record and when. Reports that referenced the Record no longer find it. When the purge finishes you are returned to the Home page with the message Record N Purged, where N is the Record's number.


A Record does not have to be deleted first; purging an active Record deletes and removes it in one step. Because there is no way back, the safer habit is to delete a Record, leave it in the Recycle Bin for a while, and purge it later. From the search screen you can purge many at once: on the Record Fields tab set Status to Deleted Records, then use Purge Checked Records or Purge Records from the results. A Record Type's Retention settings can also delete and purge Records automatically on a schedule.