> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.zarms.cloud/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# When to use Done, Cancelled, and Archive

> Use Done when the work is finished, Cancelled when you decide not to do it, and Archive to clear a card out of your lists. How the three differ and how to use each. Cards can't be deleted.

There are three ways to wrap up a card. **Done** and **Cancelled** describe how the work ended. **Archive** decides whether the card stays in your lists.

| Action | When to use it | What happens to the card |
| - | - | - |
| Done | The work is finished | The ball passes to the Receiver. It counts toward the completion rate |
| Cancelled | You decided not to do it | No one has the ball. It doesn't count toward the completion rate or overdue cards |
| Archive | You want to clear a finished card out of your lists | Its status stays the same. It's removed from lists and search, and becomes read-only |

The usual flow is: set the card to Done (or Cancelled), the Receiver checks it, then archive it.

> [!TIP]
>
> If you set dropped work to Done, your team's completion rate looks higher than it really is. Set
> dropped work to Cancelled.

## Set a card to Done

When the Reviewer has finished checking, set the status to **Done**. The ball passes to the Receiver, and the card shows up on the Receiver's My board. (Done cards don't appear in Your cards on Home.) Once the Receiver has the result, they archive the card to tidy it away.

## Cancel a card

Choose **Cancelled** under **Status** in the card details. You can also cancel a card from the card's menu in Kanban or List, or with a bulk update.

When you choose Cancelled in the details, "Cancelled this card." is added to the comment box. Add the reason you dropped it, then press **Save changes**, so that people can understand what happened later.

When you cancel a card:

* No one has the ball anymore, and the card no longer appears on Home, My board, or in deadline emails.
* It no longer appears in Kanban. In List and Timeline, it's hidden at first, and you can show it with **Show N cancelled cards**.
* "This card was cancelled on (date)." is added to the top of the card's Google Doc. The doc and folder are not deleted.
* It isn't counted in Insights numbers (completed cards, on-time rate, and so on).

You can undo a cancellation later. Just change the status back to another status. The sentence added to the doc stays.

### If the card has child cards

If you try to cancel a card that has unfinished child cards, you're asked "Mark this card as cancelled?" Check **Also mark child cards as cancelled** to cancel the child cards at the same time (this is off at first).

Template cards can't be cancelled.

## Archive a card

Who can do this: the card's Creator, Owners, and Managers

Press the **Archive** button at the top of the card details. In Kanban and List, you can also choose **Archive** from the card's menu.

When the Receiver archives a card that is Done, it's archived right away. In any other case (a card that isn't Done yet, or someone other than the Receiver archiving it), you're asked to confirm. In the confirmation, you can also choose **Mark as cancelled** instead of archiving.

When you archive a card:

* It no longer appears on boards, My board, Home, card name search, or AI search.
* It's no longer included in deadline emails or weekly emails.
* No one can edit it or add comments.
* Its status doesn't change.

### See or restore archived cards

Turn on **Include archived** under **Filter** on a board or My board to show archived cards with their original status. You can also open one by searching for its card number.

To restore a card, open its details and press **Unarchive**. The card returns to your lists and can be edited again. While creating new items is stopped because you're over a plan limit, you can't unarchive cards.

## Cards can't be deleted

In ZARMS, you can't delete a card. If you no longer need a card, cancel it or archive it. Keeping the history lets you trace later why the work was dropped, and keeps the card linked to its doc and folder. For more, see [Why you can't delete cards](https://help.zarms.cloud/en/concepts/no-delete.md).

## If something goes wrong

* **You see "Only the card creator and admins can archive cards."**: Ask the card's Creator, an Owner, or a Manager.
* **You see "Archived cards cannot be edited."**: Unarchive the card, then edit it.
* **You see "A template card cannot be completed or cancelled."**: A template card is a model for other cards, so it can't be set to Done or Cancelled. If you don't need it, archive it.


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