# Archiving and deleting a table

**Category:** [Data Tables](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/data-tables)
**Updated:** 2026-10-04

## Archive is reversible. Delete is not.

They are two separate actions on purpose, and you cannot reach the second without the first.
## Archiving

**Archive** is at the top of a table, and asks you to confirm. Nothing is deleted — every row, column and history entry is kept. The table moves to the **Archived** tab of the table list and stops appearing in the normal one.

An archived table is *read-only data*: rows cannot be added, changed or deleted, columns cannot be added or retyped, and nothing can be imported into it. You can still open it, search and sort it, read its history, rename it, and — usefully — export it.

Use it for a table you have finished with but do not want to lose: last year's rate card, a list from a project that ended.
## Restoring

Open the **Archived** tab and choose **Restore**. The table comes back exactly as it was, editable again.
## Archived tables still count towards your plan

This is the one thing worth knowing before archiving a very large table. An archived table keeps all its rows, and those rows still count against your workspace's row limits — otherwise archiving would be a way to hold unlimited data. If you are archiving to free up room, you need to delete instead.
## Deleting

Delete is only offered on a table that is already archived, and asks you to type the table's name exactly. Two speed bumps in front of the one action that loses data — it removes the table, its columns, every row and the whole history, and cannot be undone.

Export the table first if there is any chance you will want it back. Exporting works on an archived table, so you can archive, export, and then delete.
## Who can do this

Archiving, restoring and deleting are admin actions, like creating a table. Anybody with the app can edit rows.

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## Related Articles

- [Exporting a table](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-export)
- [History and undo](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-history)
- [Getting started with Data Tables](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-getting-started)
- [Working in the grid](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-grid)
- [Importing a spreadsheet](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-import)

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