Last updated September 7, 2026
Deleting & Undoing
"Delete" can mean retiring a board, removing a canvas element, or erasing an organization. Those actions have different consequences.
There are two categories: container lifecycle for boards, workspaces, and organizations, and change control for board edits. Board edits collect in your working copy until you commit or discard them.
What each delete does
Retiring Containers
Containers have two lifecycle actions: reversible disable and irreversible permanent delete.
Boards
Disable is the default delete. The board leaves listings but stays intact. Use the Disabled Boards filter to restore it from the same ⋯ menu.
A published board cannot be disabled while it is still live on the web. Unpublish first, then disable it.
Delete permanently removes the board and every layer beneath it. The confirmation shows affected boards and published surfaces. Published layers under it are unpublished as part of the delete. There is no undo.
The Root Board sits outside this lifecycle. A workspace cannot lose its root, so the Root Board offers neither action.
Workspaces
The same actions apply to workspaces. Disabling retires the workspace and its entire board tree. Enabling brings it back. Permanent delete runs the same cascade and removes everything it held.
Your organization
Organization erasure is the GDPR right-to-be-forgotten process. Access freezes immediately, a 30-day grace window opens, and you can cancel inside that window. When it closes, everything the organization owns is purged: workspaces, boards, sources, and settings.
Changing What Is On A Board
Board content changes, including deletes, collect in your working copy.
Your first edit opens a working copy
Your first board change starts a working copy. Position changes, renames, new elements, and deletes collect there until you commit or discard.
The indicator is your git status
When your working copy has changes, an Uncommitted changes indicator appears in the top bar. Click it to review, commit, or discard.
Deleting here is not deleting
On a governed board, which is one bound to a repo, the elements mirror what the code says. Removing one is a claim, not a final change. Press delete and the element stays on the canvas with a staged-deletion badge. The mark stays in your working copy: discard removes it, and commit turns it into work.
On boards you author freely, a delete is an uncommitted change like any other. Discard undoes it. Commit saves it.
Discard is git restore
Discard reverts every uncommitted change and staged deletion mark. The board returns to its last committed state.
Commit is commit + PR in one motion
Commit persists your changes. On governed boards, it also creates an intent for each app board you touched. The intent records what changed and anchors the work to the elements involved. Deleting an intent later does not undo the commit; the board keeps the change. Intents continues the workflow from there.
The one rule
Lifecycle acts on containers and is administrative. Change control acts on board content and is editorial. Discard undoes edits, Restore undoes disable, and nothing undoes a permanent delete.