Deactivating vs deleting a client

Whether a client is winding down, pausing, or was added by mistake, you can either deactivate them — set aside but with every task, invoice, and record kept and reversible any time — or delete them permanently, and this article helps you pick the right option and carry it out.

• Company Owners — can deactivate and permanently delete any client.
• Company Admins — can deactivate clients (deactivating is an edit to the client’s profile). Cannot permanently delete.
• Company Members — can deactivate a client if they have permission to edit that client. Cannot permanently delete.

Deleting a client is a Company Owner-only action. If you do not see the Delete client button, your role does not permit it. Use deactivation instead, or ask your Company Owner to perform the deletion.

	Deactivate	Delete
Data preserved?	Yes — tasks, invoices, time entries, notes, files all remain intact	No — all client data is permanently removed
Reversible?	Yes — reactivate at any time	No — cannot be undone
Appears in active lists?	Hidden by default; visible with the Active client filter set to Inactive	Gone entirely
Reports affected?	Historical data still appears in reports	All historical data is lost
Who can do it?	Company Owners, Company Admins, and Company Members (if not restricted)	Company Owners only
Confirmation required?	No confirmation dialog	Yes — a warning dialog appears before deletion

Deactivating is the right choice in almost every situation:

• The client has ended their engagement with your firm but you need to retain the work history for tax or audit purposes.
• The client is temporarily paused and may resume in the future.
• You want to clean up the active client list without losing any data.
• You are unsure whether you will need the client’s records again.

Deactivated clients are hidden from the default client list view. To find them, set the Active client filter to Inactive. You can reactivate a deactivated client at any time.

Deactivating a client is a change you make on the client’s own profile: open the client for editing and switch its Active client field from Active to Inactive.

Path: Clients → open the client’s profile → Edit → set Active client to Inactive → Save

1. Go to Clients in the main sidebar and open the client’s profile. Use Search if needed.
2. Click Edit in the client header.
3. Change the Active client field from Active to Inactive.
4. Click Save.

The client disappears from the active list immediately. Their tasks, invoices, time entries, notes, and files are all preserved.

1. On the client list, set the Active client filter to Inactive so deactivated clients appear.
2. Open the client’s profile and click Edit.
3. Change the Active client field back to Active and click Save.

Permanent deletion is appropriate in a narrow set of circumstances:

• A client was created by mistake (for example, a duplicate or a test entry) and has no real work history.
• You are required by law or a data-deletion request (GDPR right-to-erasure) to remove all client data.
• The client was a demo or practice entry that should never have been created.

Do not delete a client if there is any chance you will need their invoices, time records, or task history in the future. That data cannot be recovered after deletion.

Path: Clients → open client profile → Edit → Delete client

1. Go to Clients and open the client’s profile.
2. Click Edit in the client header.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the edit form and click the red Delete client button.
4. Read the confirmation warning carefully and confirm deletion.

Deletion removes the client and all associated data immediately. There is no undo.

If you do not see the Delete client button, your account does not have Company Owner rights. Contact your Company Owner to perform the deletion.

Deactivating a client means editing its profile, so it needs client-edit permission. If the Active client field isn’t editable — or you can’t open the client for editing — your role doesn’t have edit rights on that client. Ask a Company Admin or Company Owner to deactivate the client for you, or to grant your team the right to modify clients.

No. Deletion is permanent and cannot be reversed by any user, including the Company Owner. If the deletion was accidental and you need to restore data, contact Uku support as soon as possible — recovery from a backup may be possible in exceptional cases, but is not guaranteed.

This is expected. Deactivating a client hides them from the active client list but their historical data — time entries, invoices, tasks — remains visible in reports. This ensures your historical records stay accurate. If you need to exclude a deactivated client from a report, apply a Client filter in the report to select only active clients.

The client is likely deactivated. Change the Active client filter on the client list to Inactive to find them. If the client has been permanently deleted, their historical data will not appear anywhere.