Archiving customers

Archive is the normal way to hide inactive customers from the working list. It removes the customer from the default active list view, but it does not remove linked repairs, orders, quotes, reports, backups, or historical records.

Why archive instead of delete

• Most real customers already have linked repairs, orders, or quotes, and delete is blocked for those records.
• Archive keeps the customer out of the active list while preserving historical business context.
• If the customer returns later, you can unarchive them and continue using the same record.
• Archive is reversible; delete is not.

Archiving a customer

1. 1
   Open the customer detail screen

   You archive from the customer profile, not from bulk list actions.
2. 2
   Open the action sheet

   Use the floating action button in the bottom corner of the customer detail screen.
3. 3
   Choose Archive

   The customer is marked archived immediately and disappears from the default active list.

Unarchiving a customer

1. 1
   Open Customers and enable Show Archived

   Use the sort and filter sheet in the Customers tab to reveal archived rows.
2. 2
   Open the archived customer

   Archived customers carry a dedicated badge in the list and on the detail header.
3. 3
   Choose Unarchive from the action sheet

   The customer returns to the normal active list immediately.

Where archived customers still appear

• Existing repairs, orders, and quotes still load with their linked archived customer.
• Customer pickers can still show archived customers so you can reuse an existing record instead of creating a duplicate.
• Dashboard global search can still surface archived customers with their archived badge.
• JSON backups, cloud backups, and exports still include archived records.

When to anonymize instead

If a customer has real history but you need to remove personal details for privacy reasons, use Anonymize instead of archive or delete.

• Anonymize redacts personal contact fields and keeps the row archived permanently.
• Anonymized customers cannot be edited or unarchived again.
• Linked repairs, orders, and quotes remain intact for business history.
• Public tracking keys tied to that customer history are cleared and queued for cleanup.

When delete is allowed

Delete is available only when the customer has zero linked repairs, orders, and quotes. That makes delete suitable for duplicates, test rows, or obvious mistakes — not for real historical customers.

If you need a full wipe of the whole app dataset instead of a single customer cleanup, use Settings → App Settings → Data & Privacy → Delete All Data.