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Archive

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Module: Tasks · URL: /tasks/archive · Responsible role: Staff (every member, own tasks) · Also used by: all roles. Owner/Director and roles with full Tasks scope see every archived or cancelled task in the organization.

Tasks Archive — six archived tasks, newest first, from "Translate interview transcripts — ASEAN Digital Trade Outlook" (Maya Kaplan, High, approved Sep 30, 2026, archived Oct 10, 2026) to "Review donor report draft" (Jordan Fields, High, approved Aug 9, archived Aug 19, 2026), each with Reason "Archived", a priority pill and a Restore button

Screenshot: Andrew Price (Senior Researcher), Nocthink Demo Institute demo data.

Why I use this page

The Archive keeps finished and abandoned tasks out of my working lists while keeping them retrievable. I come here when I need to look up something I closed a while ago (who did it, when it was approved), or when a cancelled or archived task turns out to be needed again and I want to put it back on the board. It is an occasional page, typically at month end or when someone asks about old work.

What's on the screen

  • Header — Archive, with "Cancelled tasks, and tasks archived 10 days after their creator approved them. Search by title or assignee, and restore a task to put it back on the board." A Search… box sits on the right.
  • Table (once there are entries), newest archived first:
    • Task — the title, linked to the task page;
    • Assignee ("Unassigned" if none);
    • Reason — Archived or Cancelled;
    • Priority;
    • Approved — the approval date, if any;
    • Archived — the archive date;
    • Actions — a Restore button.
  • With nothing to show: "No archived or cancelled tasks." If loading fails: "Failed to load archived tasks. Please try again."

How I …

Find an old task

  1. Open Tasks → Archive.
  2. Type part of the title or the assignee's name in Search….
  3. Click the title to open the task with its messages, attachments and activity history.

Restore a task to the board

  1. Find the task and click Restore.
  2. What happens depends on the Reason:
    • Archived and previously approved: it returns as Done.
    • Archived and never approved: it returns as To do.
    • Cancelled: its status is set to To do.
  3. The task leaves the Archive and appears again in the Task List and on the relevant boards.

Archive a task by hand

  1. Open the task (from the Task List or a board) and choose ⋯ → Archive.
  2. It moves here immediately with Reason Archived.
  3. To cancel instead, edit the task and set Status to Cancelled. It then appears here with Reason Cancelled.

Access & permissions

The section needs tasks.view. The list uses the normal task visibility rules, not just "mine": I see archived and cancelled tasks that I created, that are assigned to me, or that belong to a project I lead or am a team member of. Owner/Director (full Tasks scope) see all of them. Restore needs me to be the creator, the assignee or a project team member (or to have full scope). Restoring a cancelled task uses the normal edit right (tasks.update).

Caveats

  • Auto-archiving is lazy: a task approved more than 10 days ago is archived the next time anyone loads a task list, not exactly on day 10.
  • Tasks in a project that is On Hold, Completed or Archived cannot be restored until the project is reopened.
  • Restoring a cancelled task always sets it to To do, whatever status it had before it was cancelled.
  • Each list (archived, cancelled) loads at most its newest 100 entries.
  • Dates are shown in my browser's local date.

Limitations

  • No permanent delete from the archive.
  • No filter by reason, project or date (search covers only title and assignee).
  • No bulk restore, and no export.
  • Task List — where restored tasks reappear, and where tasks are archived from.
  • Dashboard — counts exclude archived tasks.
  • Delegate — active tasks assigned to me.
  • Project Archive — finished projects, a separate archive.