A form that has been finalised cannot be deleted directly through the bin icon. This is intentional and protects the integrity of completed processes. As an administrator, you have three options to delete a finalised form: reset the status and delete, automatic clean-up, and anonymisation.
Why can I not delete a finalised form?
As soon as a form has the status ready (finalised), the bin icon disappears from the overview. The system blocks deletion of finalised forms to prevent approved and completed data from being lost. This applies to all roles: the user, manager, HRM employee and practical supervisor.
Note: As long as a form has not been finalised (status created, started or rejected), it can be deleted through the bin icon if the relevant role has deletion rights in the current phase.
Option 1: Reset the status and delete (administrator)
As an administrator, you can reset the status of a finalised form to an earlier phase. After resetting it, the form is no longer finalised and you can delete it.
Reset the status
- Go to Management > Forms and open the required form definition.
- Go to the Roll-out and status tab.
- Find the form that you want to reset.
- Click the reset icon next to the form.
- Select the phase to which you want to reset the form.
- Confirm the reset.
The form now has the status started and is no longer finalised.
Delete the form
After resetting the form, you can delete it:
- Select the form using the checkbox in the overview on the Roll-out and status tab.
- Click Delete forms.
- Confirm the deletion.
Note: Resetting a finalised form reverses its associated approvals, competency reviews and any generated PDFs. Check in advance whether resetting is required.
Option 2: Automatic clean-up through the form definition
An administrator can configure the form definition to clean up completed forms automatically after a specified period. The system then deletes these forms through a nightly background process.
Configure the clean-up
- Go to Management > Forms and open the required form definition.
- Go to the Data tab.
- Enable Clean up completed forms.
- Under Number of months, enter the number of months after which completed forms are deleted, calculated from the last modification date.
- Click Save.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Clean up completed forms | Enable this option to delete finalised, aborted and expired forms automatically after the specified period. |
| Number of months | The number of months after the last modification date after which the form is deleted. Must be greater than 0. |
Note: This setting applies to forms with the status ready, aborted and expired. Clean-up runs once a day through a background process. This option is enabled by default for a new form definition.
Clean up after a period (360-degree and review forms)
An additional clean-up option is available for 360-degree feedback and review forms:
- Open the form definition and go to the Data tab.
- Enable Clean up after a period.
- Under Number of days, enter the number of days after which forms are cleaned up once the completed period has passed.
- Click Save.
Option 3: Anonymise the user
When a user is anonymised, all forms linked to that user are deleted. This also applies to finalised forms.
Note: Anonymisation is irreversible. All of the user's personal data is permanently deleted, including forms, form results and linked competency reviews.
Overview of deletion methods
| Method | When | By whom | Irreversible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual deletion (bin icon) | Only for forms that are not finalised | User, manager, HRM employee or practical supervisor with deletion rights | Yes |
| Reset status and delete | At any time, by the administrator | Administrator | Yes |
| Automatic clean-up | After the configured number of months following the last modification date | System (background process) | Yes |
| Anonymise user | When an inactive user is anonymised | Administrator | Yes |
Frequently asked questions
What happens when a finalised form is reset?
The form receives the status started and is reset to the selected phase. All approvals from that phase onwards are reversed, as are linked competency reviews and generated PDFs. You can then delete the form or have it completed again.
What happens to form results after clean-up?
When a form is cleaned up, it is marked as deleted in the database. Previously recorded reporting data remains available in form reports unless separate report clean-up has been configured to delete this data.
Can I enable automatic clean-up afterwards?
Yes. You can enable Clean up completed forms in the form definition at any time. The background process then deletes all completed forms older than the configured number of months.
Does automatic clean-up apply to all form types?
Yes. Clean up completed forms is available for all form types (standard, review, 360-degree, evaluation, and so on). The additional Clean up after a period option is available only for 360-degree and review forms.
Which form types support the reset option?
The reset option is available for all form types except evaluation forms. For 360-degree feedback forms, a separate screen is shown for managing respondents.
Who can change the clean-up settings?
Only an administrator with access to the form definitions under Management > Forms can change these settings.