Overview
The Trash tab is a Project-level tool that allows you to recover any Plans, Files, Tasks, Forms, or Photos that have been deleted in the last 30 days. It's available for our customers (using any paid subscription tier) on the web version of Fieldwire, and is accessible only to project admins.
If a task has been deleted for more than 30 days (after which it cannot be restored from the Trash tab), we do have a workaround that allows you to recreate deleted tasks using the Task Importer (How do I recreate deleted tasks after they have been deleted for more than 30 days?).
IMPORTANT: Deleted 3D models, individual plan sheets from the single plan "version control" button, Specifications, RFIs from the "RFIs" module, Submittals, and Change Orders are NOT stored in the Trash tab. They are deleted PERMANENTLY and cannot be restored.
Please email support@fieldwire.com if you'd like to add a vote for the capability to restore 3D models or any other Fieldwire content from the trash tab. Every upvote we receive from customers helps determine which features we'll develop next!
- Platforms: Web only
- Subscriptions: Not available on Basic, but included in Pro and every other paid plan (Pro and Business Subscriptions: The Features You Get and How To Set Them Up)
- Permissions: Only Project Admins can access and restore deleted items; Members can view the page but not take actions within it, and Followers cannot access it (they see a greyed-out version of the gear icon).
Note: In some cases, it may appear that tasks have been deleted from a project. However, if they are not visible in the Trash tab, they may have been archived instead.
Depending on your project settings, tasks marked as Verified can be automatically archived. If you believe tasks have been deleted, we recommend checking whether the tasks were archived before assuming they were permanently removed.
How to access the Trash tab
Like the "Settings" icon, the Trash tab icon is only visible and clickable in the left menu for Project Admins. You can see the type of deleted entity, who deleted it, and when it was deleted; on the right-hand side, the "Restore" option is displayed in blue text.
How to restore items
You can choose to restore one item at a time:
Or, to restore multiple items at once, select each checkbox (or the checkbox next to the date of deletion for all items under that date), then select 'Actions' and 'Restore':
Note: Forms are able to be recovered from the Trash tab; however, Form Templates cannot be recovered from the Trash tab. Once Form Templates are deleted, they are permanently deleted along with all connected forms
(Please email support@fieldwire.com if you'd like to upvote the ability to restore Form Templates from the trash tab, so that they can be restored).
How to re-attach tasks that were pinned to a deleted plan sheet
When restoring a deleted plan from the Trash tab, you now have the option to also restore all associated task pin locations and links. This returns tasks to their exact positions on the plan, preserving the original pin-to-sheet relationship.
When you select a deleted plan and click Restore, you will be prompted to choose whether to restore task pin locations as well. If you choose to restore them, all tasks that were previously pinned to that plan will reappear at their original positions.
If you choose not to restore task pin locations, or if the tasks were separately deleted, the previous behavior still applies:
Tasks pinned to plans are NOT deleted when you delete the plan they are attached to; you can still view these tasks in the Tasks tab.
The task shape will change from a pin to a square icon, indicating the tasks are no longer associated with a plan.
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You can use the filter function to locate unlinked tasks:
Go to the Tasks tab and select Filter.
Click on the plans section and choose No plan.
Use additional filters (Status, Category, Assignee, etc.) to isolate the tasks you are looking for.
Select the tasks using checkboxes, click Actions, then Batch edit.
From the batch edit screen, reattach the tasks to the appropriate plan sheet.
2-way Sync and the Trash tab
When deleting plans and files in Fieldwire, it is always a good idea to make sure and double check that you want to delete that information. That said, if you accidentally delete plans or files, they will be located in the Trash tab in Fieldwire. This is true whether or not you delete the plans/files in Fieldwire or delete them in your cloud storage platform.
However, in terms of restoring this information to your project, you should only restore plans/files from the Fieldwire trash tab as syncing issues can occur when trying to restore plans from the Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive side. In addition, after deleting the plans/files, you still only have 30 days to restore that information to your Fieldwire project. Thus, even if this information still resides in the trash of your cloud storage platform, it can only be recovered in Fieldwire within those 30 days. After the 30 days have passed, you'll need to re-upload the plan/file as if it were new.
More information
- Introduction to Project Permission Levels: Administrators, Members, and Followers
- How do I recreate deleted tasks after they have been deleted for more than 30 days?