How do I delete documents – and what is the trash bin?

When you delete a document, it is not immediately gone forever: It first moves to the trash bin and remains recoverable there. This is how the app protects you from accidental data loss.

Moving a document to the trash bin

1. Open My documents.
2. Delete a document via its context menu (right-click or "...") – or select multiple documents and delete them together.
3. The document disappears from the list and is now in the trash bin.
4. If a document has attachments from a bundle analysis, the app will ask if these should also be moved to the trash bin.

Trash bin: restore or delete permanently

1. Switch to the trash bin tab at the top.
2. For each document, you can choose Restore (back to "My documents") or Delete permanently.
3. Use Restore all or Empty trash bin to process all items at once.

Search and team workspaces

• Use the search field to search the trash bin.
• Documents from a team workspace are listed in a separate group, with a note indicating who deleted them. "Restore" makes such a document visible to all members again; "Delete permanently" removes it for everyone – the app will ask for confirmation beforehand.

What "Delete permanently" means

• The file and all its versions are permanently removed from storage – this cannot be undone.
• Restoration is only possible as long as the document is in the trash bin.
• There is no automatic deletion period: documents remain in the trash bin until you remove them permanently yourself.
• Documents marked with "Legal hold" cannot be deleted permanently; they will be skipped when emptying the trash bin.

Good to know

• As long as a document is in the trash bin, it no longer appears in analyses, chat, or search.
• If you restore it, the previous context is also restored.
• What happens to your files in general is explained in What happens to my documents?.

Related topics: How do I upload a document? · My documents: safely stored · What happens to my documents? · Exporting My Data (GDPR)