# How to delete old data automatically

> Step by step: turn on scheduled data cleanup for a workspace, choose how many days to keep files and filled forms, and see what is removed and what stays.

Last updated: 2026-10-27
Web page: https://instafill.ai/docs/data-cleanup

This guide shows how to have a workspace remove old data by itself. You choose how many days to keep the files you upload and the forms you fill. After that, anything older is removed on a schedule, without anyone having to remember.

![A short film of turning on data cleanup: the setting ticked, the days chosen, and a cleaned filled form in the list](https://media.kitcut.ai/films/studio-20261015-130726-tw3nwt/film_web.mp4 "Watch: deleting old data automatically, start to finish.")

## What you need before you start

| You need | What that means |
|---|---|
| **The Owner or Admin role** | Only an Owner or an Admin of the organization sees the setting. |
| **The workspace to clean up** | The setting belongs to one workspace. Switch to the workspace first if you work in several. |

## 1. Open Data cleanup

Click your initial in the top right corner and choose **Profile**. In the list on the left, under **Workspace**, click **Data cleanup**.

## 2. Turn on the cleanup and choose the days

- **Turn it on**: Tick **Enable scheduled data cleanup**. The line under it says when the next cleanup takes place.
- **Choose the days**: Type how many days to keep data before it is removed.
- **Keep the change**: Press **Save**. Nothing changes until you do, and **Cancel** puts back what was saved before.

At each cleanup, everything listed on the screen that was created more than that many days earlier is removed:

- **Files and text you submitted to complete PDF forms**
- **Completed PDF forms created during the filling process**
- **Table data you provided to fill multiple PDFs in batch**
- **All PDFs created during batch filling of multiple forms**
- **Profiles and their uploaded files**

Removed files cannot be brought back, so download anything you need to keep before it reaches that age.

![The Data cleanup settings with scheduled cleanup ticked, the number of days typed in, and the Save button](https://instafill.ai/docs/assets/data-cleanup-settings.png "Tick the box (1), type the days (2), then press Save (3).")

## 3. See what remains after a cleanup

The forms in your forms library are not removed. A filled form that was cleaned stays in **Filled forms** under the name **Data removed**, with its form and its date, so the list still shows what was filled and when. Opening it says the session data was removed as part of the workspace's data retention policy.

A cleaned profile stays in **Profiles** marked **Data removed**, without its files.

![The Filled forms list with two filled W-9 forms and an older one shown as Data removed](https://instafill.ai/docs/assets/data-cleanup-removed.png "A filled form after the cleanup (1): its form and date stay, its files are gone.")

## Turn it off again

Open **Data cleanup**, clear **Enable scheduled data cleanup** and press **Save**. Nothing more is removed from then on. What was already removed stays removed.