Mark a Document for Deletion

When you mark a document for deletion, Vault creates a Safety Deletion Log to capture the deletion request details, allowing your organization to retain an auditable trail of document deletion data. If a document is marked for deletion in error, you can cancel the deletion request. After the document’s retention period has passed, Vault deletes the document.

Prerequisite

To use this feature, your Admin must enable Safety Deletion Logs.

To mark a document for deletion:

From the document’s All Actions menu, select Delete Document with Reason.
In the Mark Document for Deletion window, select a Deletion Reason from the picklist, then enter any optional comments to justify the deletion in the Deletion Comments field. Vault indicates the retention period (the number of days it will wait before permanently deleting the document) at the top of this window.
Select Continue.

Once the document is marked for deletion, Vault:

Displays a confirmation message indicating that the document has been marked for deletion
Updates the Marked for Deletion field on the document to Yes
Creates a Safety Deletion Log in the Pending Deletion state and populates its fields

After the retention period, Vault deletes the document and moves the Safety Deletion Log to the Deleted state.

If Vault encounters an error while attempting to delete a document (for example, if the document is involved in an active workflow or is referenced by an object), Vault:

Moves the associated Safety Deletion Log to the Deletion Error state
Sends an error notification to the user who marked the document for deletion
Continues to attempt deletion daily until the document is successfully deleted

Safety Deletion Log Fields

The following fields may be available:

Field	Description
Created Date	The date the user marked the document for deletion. Vault deletes documents when the current date is equal to or later than the document's Created Date plus the retention period.
Cancellation Reason	If the deletion request is canceled, Vault populates any comments added by the user who canceled the request.
Deletion Comments	Vault populates any comments added by the user who marked the document for deletion.
Deletion Date	Vault leaves this blank until the document is deleted.
Deletion Reason	Vault populates the reason selected by the user who marked the document for deletion.
Document Classification	Vault populates the document's classification, if it has one.
Document Created By	Vault populates the Person who created the document.
Document ID	Vault populates the Document ID of the document marked for deletion.
Document Name	Vault populates the Name of the document marked for deletion.
Document Number	Vault populates the Number of the document marked for deletion.
Document Subtype	Vault populates the document's subtype, if it has one.
Document Type	Vault populates the document's type.
Document Version	Vault populates the latest version of the document when it was marked for deletion.
Safety Deletion Log Type	Vault populates Document.
User Making Request	Vault populates the User who made the document deletion request.

Cancel Document Deletion Request

If a document was marked for deletion in error, you can cancel the deletion request, provided it is within the retention period:

Navigate to Business Admin > Objects > Safety Deletion Logs.
Select the Safety Deletion Log related to the document. If required, you can search and filter results, for example, by the name of the user who requested the document deletion.
From the All Actions menu, select Cancel Deletion Request.
In the Cancel Document Deletion Request dialog, enter a comment in the Cancellation Reason field, then select Continue.

Vault:

Closes the dialog and displays a confirmation message
Populates the Cancellation Reason on the Safety Deletion Log with the entered comment
Updates the Safety Deletion Log to the Canceled state
Updates the Marked for Deletion field on the selected document to No