# Archive and trash

Two ways to get a page out of the way. **Archive** means finished, keep it. **Trash** means delete it.

![The Archive screen listing finished pages with a Restore button on each row](https://thenotemaker.com/help/archive-and-trash.webp)

## Archive a page

Open the page's **⋯** menu, or its menu in the Pages panel, and choose **Archive**. The page and all its sub-pages disappear from the tree, search and the recent list, but nothing is lost.

An archived page is **read-only** for everyone. If someone opens it from a direct link they see a banner with **Restore**.

If the page was published, it goes offline while archived and comes back online when you restore it.

### See and restore archived pages

Choose **Archive** from the Pages screen, or open `/your-workspace/archive`. Each archived page is listed with the number of sub-pages it took with it. Choose **Restore** to bring it back to where it was. If its parent has been archived or deleted in the meantime, it returns to the top level.

Anyone who can **Edit** a page can archive it and restore it, because both are reversible.

## Delete a page

Choose **Delete** from the page's menu. The page goes to the **Trash**, not away for good.

Open **Trash** in the rail to see what is there. **Restore** puts a page back. **Delete permanently** removes it forever and cannot be undone.

Only the page's **author** or a workspace **owner or admin** can delete, restore from the trash or delete permanently. Edit access alone is not enough.

## Locked pages

A locked page can be neither archived nor deleted. If any page inside the one you are archiving or deleting is locked, the whole action is refused. Unlock it first, from the page's menu. A collection that holds a locked page cannot be deleted either. See [🔒 Lock a page, form or collection](https://docs.wrightdesk.com/organise-and-share/lock-a-page-form-or-collection).

## Which one should I use?

| I want to… | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Keep a finished project for reference | Archive |
| Clear clutter but be able to find it | Archive |
| Keep a page visible but stop it changing | Lock |
| Remove something I no longer want | Trash |
| Remove it for good | Trash, then Delete permanently |

> [!info] 💡
> Archiving never changes who can see the page. Archived pages keep their sharing, so restoring does not need to be set up again.

## Related

-   [🕘 Version history](https://docs.wrightdesk.com/organise-and-share/version-history)
-   [🤝 Share a page or a collection](https://docs.wrightdesk.com/organise-and-share/share-a-page-or-a-collection)
-   [📤 Export a page](https://docs.wrightdesk.com/write/export-a-page)
-   [🔒 Lock a page, form or collection](https://docs.wrightdesk.com/organise-and-share/lock-a-page-form-or-collection)