---
id: KB-DI-010
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/documents-and-ai/deleting-a-document-or-not
idioma: en
categoria: documentos-ia
subcategoria: subir
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-DI-006, KB-TZ-003]
citadoPor: [KB-PR-014, KB-DI-019, KB-AD-020]
---

# Deleting a document, or not

_What can be deleted, what should be, and what must not._

**Responde a:** how do i delete a document uploaded by mistake · can i remove a file · remove a document from a case · recover a deleted document

Deleting looks like the obvious fix when something is wrong, and it almost never is. Before doing it, work out which of the three cases you are in, because only one of them calls for deletion.

| Situation | What to do | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| You uploaded the wrong file | Delete it and upload the right one | It proves nothing and should not be there |
| The document is expired or superseded | Upload the new version over it | The previous one shows what was valid then |
| The extracted value is wrong, the paper is right | Correct the value, leave the document alone | There is nothing wrong with the document |

## What must not be deleted

- Anything connected to an open claim or litigation.
- Documents that are part of a signature: the signature covers them.
- Whatever you are obliged to retain, even if you no longer need it.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> If there are open proceedings touching a document, do not delete it even if it seems irrelevant. Every deletion is logged with its date, and one made after a claim starts always reads in the worst possible way, however innocent.

## What is worth deleting

What you should not hold: ID copies requested without needing them, personal data from processes that ended years ago, third-party documents that arrived by mistake. Keeping too much is not prudence, it is accumulated risk.

> [!WARNING]
> Before deleting something someone else uploaded, ask them. It may be there for a reason you cannot see, and recovery is not always possible.

> [!NOTE]
> If you hesitate between deleting and keeping, ask whether the document proves anything. The ones that prove stay; the ones that merely occupy space go.

**Can deleted items be recovered?**

It depends on your retention settings. Do not count on it.

**Is there a record of who deleted it?**

Yes, with the date.

**Does deleting free space or credits?**

Credits already consumed do not come back.

## Ejemplos

**Someone wants to delete a supplier's old insurance policies "to tidy up".**

- Checks they prove each year's cover
- Keeps them as previous versions

→ Months later a two-year-old claim is closed by showing the policy in force on that day.

**A document is deleted and disappears from a file.**

- Checks where it is referenced before deleting

→ Deleting breaks nothing.

**A duplicate is deleted and it was the good one.**

- Checks which one sits in the right file

→ The useful one remains.

**Something that had to be retained is deleted.**

- Checks the policy before deleting

→ Deleting stops being a gamble.

**Deletion happens and there is no record of it.**

- Records what was deleted and when

→ What was done is demonstrable.

**It is archived rather than deleted and lost from view.**

- Decides between archiving and deleting per case

→ The archive stays readable.