Applies to: eDiscovery Rooms Access Level: Administrator

Overview

QuikData gives you a few different ways to delete a document, a folder, or an eDiscovery Source, and they don't all work the same way. This article also walks through when documents end up on the Orphan Documents list, and how to get them back when that's possible.

Note: Deleting a document requires Administrator access

Every action in this article, from deleting a single document to purging an Orphan Document, requires an Administrator access level. If you're not able to see a Delete option somewhere in the Room, that's most likely why.

Which action do I use?

Start from what you're trying to accomplish, then use the table and how-to steps below to confirm exactly what will happen before you click OK.

I want it out of this one folder, but it might still be needed elsewhere in the Room: use Delete from Folder or the Document Actions trash icon.
I want it gone from every Work Folder and eDiscovery Source it's in, all at once (but a Production copy will still survive): use Delete from Room.
I'm done with a Work Folder and everything in it: use Delete Folder.
I'm certain an entire eDiscovery Source is no longer needed: use Delete Data Source. This skips the Recycle Bin, so check for other copies first (see the note under "Delete an eDiscovery Source" below).
I have a Saved Search surfacing documents I want removed from the Room entirely: use Delete Folder Documents from Room. This also skips the Recycle Bin.
I deleted something and need it back, or I'm cleaning up what's already in the Recycle Bin or Orphan Documents: see "Recovery and Cleanup Actions at a Glance" further down.

Note: Not sure if it's the only copy?

Run an Advanced Search for the document's Doc Id, then right-click the search results folder at the top of the tree (not the document row) and choose Document Location Report. It lists every folder the document currently lives in, so you know before you delete whether you're looking at someone's only copy.

Delete actions at a glance

Action	You run it from	Goes to Recycle Bin?	Reaches the eDiscovery Source copy?	If it's the document's only copy in the Room
Delete from Folder	Right-click a document > Rename / Delete	Yes	No	Goes to the Recycle Bin, same as any other copy
Document Actions trash icon	Document Actions panel	Yes	No	Same as Delete from Folder
Delete from Room	Right-click a document > Rename / Delete	Yes	Yes	Goes to the Recycle Bin, same as any other copy
Delete Folder	Right-click a Work Folder	Yes	No	Recycle Bin, then Orphan Documents once the bin is emptied
Delete Data Source	Right-click an eDiscovery Source	No	Yes (it is the Source)	Skips the Recycle Bin - straight to Orphan Documents
Delete Folder Documents from Room	Right-click a Saved Search > Processing / Admin	No	Yes	Skips the Recycle Bin - straight to Orphan Documents

Note: "Reaches" and Productions

"Reaches" means the action can remove that copy. A document with copies in more than one place only loses the copies the action actually reaches; everywhere else, it's untouched. Productions aren't in this table because no delete action listed here can destroy a Production copy directly, and a Production copy has its own separate risk around Orphan Documents. See "Productions: what's different," right after this table, before you delete anything that might have been produced.

The only confirmed, truly permanent, unrecoverable action in QuikData is deleting a document from the Orphan Documents screen itself (Delete Selected / Delete All Orphan Documents). Every action in the table above still leaves a genuine sole copy recoverable somewhere, in the Recycle Bin or in Orphan Documents.

Productions: what's different

Whether a document lives in a Work Folder, an eDiscovery Source, an Import folder, or a Review Set, every delete action in the table above works the same way. Productions are the one exception, and they're worth a dedicated section because two different things are true about them at once, and it's easy to only know one of the two.

A Production copy can't be deleted directly

Delete from Room does not reach a document's copy in a Production; that copy survives untouched. QuikData won't even let you try: right-click a document from inside a Production folder, and Delete under Rename / Delete is greyed out.

But a Production copy doesn't protect the document from becoming an Orphan

The Orphan-eligibility check (run when you empty the Recycle Bin, delete a Work Folder, delete an eDiscovery Source, or delete a Saved Search's documents) only looks at Work Folders, eDiscovery Sources, Import folders, and Review Sets. It does not count a Production. So a document can become an Orphan Document while its Production copy is still sitting there, live and viewable, in the Room.

Here's how that plays out for a document that lives in a Work Folder and also has a copy in a Production:

Delete from Room removes the Work Folder copy and sends it to the Recycle Bin. The Production copy is untouched.
Emptying the Recycle Bin finds no remaining Work Folder / eDiscovery Source / Import / Review Set copy, so the document becomes an Orphan Document, even though the Production copy is still sitting there, fully intact.
Selecting that orphan entry and choosing Delete Selected Orphan Documents removes the document from the Production too, instantly, with no confirmation dialog and no on-screen mention of the Production connection.

Warning: Check for a Production connection before you clean up an orphan

Delete Selected Orphan Documents runs right away, so it's worth pausing before you use it: a document can look like a routine, safe-to-clean-up orphan while it still has a live copy sitting in a Production. Confirming whether an orphaned document has ever been part of a Production, before deleting or purging it, is the safest habit here.

We've shared this scenario with the development team as a good candidate for an extra confirmation step, for example, a dialog that names the affected Production, or a way to see a document's Production history right from the Orphan Documents screen.

Production folder showing a document also in Orphan Documents Illustrates the Productions exception

How To: Delete Actions

Delete a document from one folder

There are two ways to do this, and they behave identically.

Right-click menu

Right-click the document (or your selected documents).
Point to Rename / Delete, then choose Delete from Folder.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog: "The selected document(s) will be deleted from this folder."

Right-click menu - Rename / Delete submenu Delete from Folder and Delete from Room options

Document Actions panel

Open or select the document.
In the Document Actions panel, select the trash-can icon.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog: "The focused document will be deleted."

Document Actions panel Trash-can icon

Result: The document disappears from that one folder only. If a copy of it exists somewhere else in the Room (another Work Folder, or an eDiscovery Source), that copy is untouched. The deleted copy goes to the Recycle Bin. This is true even if it was the only copy of the document anywhere in the Room; it still goes to the Recycle Bin the same way, it just won't have another copy to fall back on.

Delete a document from everywhere in the Room

Right-click the document (or your selected documents).
Point to Rename / Delete, then choose Delete from Room.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog: "This will delete the focused/selected documents from this folder, and all other folders/locations in this Room, and moved to the Recycle Bin."

Result: This one is bigger. It removes the document from every Work Folder, eDiscovery Source, Import folder, and Review Set it's in, all at once, and moves a single copy to the Recycle Bin. Any shares of the document are removed permanently at this point. If the document only lived in one folder to begin with, this has the same effect as Delete from Folder.

Note: The one action that reaches an eDiscovery Source copy

Delete from Folder and the Document Actions trash icon both leave a document's eDiscovery Source copy alone, even when you delete its copy in a separate Work Folder. Delete from Room doesn't; it takes the document out of its Source-linked location along with everywhere else, in one shot. The one place it still can't reach is a Production copy (see "Productions: what's different" above).

Delete a Work Folder

Right-click the folder.
Choose Delete Folder.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog: "The selected folder along with subfolders and the files within will be deleted."

Right-click menu on a folder - Delete Folder / Delete Data Source Work Folder and eDiscovery Source variants

Result: The folder, everything inside it, and any subfolders are deleted right away. Unlike Delete Data Source (below), this action still sends the documents through the Recycle Bin first, the same as a document-level delete. If a document inside the folder had other copies elsewhere in the Room, those are unaffected. If a document had no other copies anywhere in the Room, it follows the usual Recycle Bin path and becomes an Orphan Document once the bin is emptied.

Delete an eDiscovery Source

Right-click the Source folder.
Choose Delete Custodian or Data Source.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog for Custodian: "The selected custodian along with data sources and the files within will be deleted."

Confirmation dialog for Data Sources or any subfolders: "The selected data source and the files within will be deleted."

Result: The Source folder and everything in it are deleted right away, with no Recycle Bin stop for this one. If copies of those documents exist elsewhere in the Room, for example in a Work Folder, they're left alone. If a document had no other copies anywhere in the Room, it becomes an Orphan Document immediately. So even though this action skips the Recycle Bin, a genuine sole copy still ends up recoverable in Manage Orphan Documents rather than being destroyed with no trace.

Warning: Once you confirm this, there's no Recycle Bin safety net

Unlike deleting a Work Folder, deleting an eDiscovery Source skips the Recycle Bin entirely, so there's no quick undo once you click OK. A sole copy still ends up recoverable in Orphan Documents rather than being destroyed, but double-check what's in a Source first with a Document Location Report (see "Not sure if it's the only copy?" near the top of this article).

Delete every document in a Saved Search from the Room

Note: A Saved Search isn't a folder

A Saved Search doesn't hold its own copy of anything; it's a live query that shows documents living elsewhere in the Room, in a Work Folder or an eDiscovery Source. Deleting a document from a folder using any of the other actions in this article does not remove it from a Saved Search, since saved search results are maintained independently of folders.

A document drops out of a Saved Search only when it's permanently deleted, when it's explicitly removed from within that Saved Search (which affects only that search), or when the Saved Search itself is deleted the way described below.

Right-click the Saved Search.
Point to Processing / Admin, then choose Delete Folder Documents from Room.
Select OK to confirm.

Confirmation dialog: "The selected folder along with subfolders and the files within will be deleted. Additionally, all documents in the selected folder(s) will be deleted from all folders/locations within the Room."

Result: This deletes the Saved Search and removes the documents it showed from every other folder or eDiscovery Source they actually lived in. Documents that still had another copy elsewhere in the Room keep that copy untouched. This is true whether the Saved Search sits under a Work Folder or under an eDiscovery Source. If a document's only real location was that Saved Search, it skips the Recycle Bin, the same way Delete Data Source does, but it isn't destroyed: it becomes an Orphan Document.

Warning: This action skips the Recycle Bin

Like Delete Data Source, this action gives you no Recycle Bin stop for a document whose only location was the Saved Search; it goes straight to Orphan Documents. Use a Document Location Report (see "Not sure if it's the only copy?" near the top of this article) to check whether any of the documents it will touch exist only in that Saved Search before you run it.

Recovery and Cleanup Actions at a Glance

Once a document is in the Recycle Bin or in Orphan Documents, here's what each recovery or cleanup action does with it.

Action	What happens	Coding preserved?	Returns to its original location?
Restore from the Recycle Bin	Goes back to every Work Folder and eDiscovery Source it was in before, all at once	Yes	Yes, but not to a Saved Search's results until you rerun it
Restore Selected (Orphan Documents)	Creates a new "Restore (date)" folder under Work Folders and places it there	Yes	No; always a new Restore folder, breaks the Source link
Delete Selected / Delete All Orphan Documents	Removes it immediately, no confirmation dialog; also removes any Production copy still connected to it	n/a; permanent	n/a; permanent
Purge Deleted Documents from Database	Clears documents already removed via Delete Selected/Delete All Orphan Documents out of QuikData's underlying database. Does not touch documents still sitting in the Recycle Bin or still listed in Orphan Documents.	n/a; already permanently deleted	n/a; already permanently deleted

How To: Recovery and Cleanup Actions

Restore a document from the Recycle Bin

Go to the Recycle Bin.
Right-click the document.
Point to Rename / Restore, then choose Restore.

Recycle Bin folder Location in the folder tree

Result: The document goes back to every Work Folder and eDiscovery Source it was in before, all at once. A Saved Search is different, since it's a live query rather than a real location: the document doesn't automatically reappear in a Saved Search's results just because it's restored. Rerun the Saved Search and it will show up again, as long as it still matches the search criteria.

Empty the Recycle Bin

From the Recycle Bin, select the documents you want to clear, then choose Empty Recycle Bin.

Confirmation dialog: "The documents in the Recycle Bin will be permanently deleted."

Result: Clears the documents out of the Recycle Bin. QuikData then checks whether a copy of the document still exists anywhere else in the Room, in a Work Folder, an eDiscovery Source, an Import folder, or a Review Set. If it finds one, that copy is fine and nothing else happens. If the copy that was just in the Recycle Bin was the only copy left anywhere in the Room (again, not counting Productions), the document becomes an Orphan Document instead of being destroyed.

Note: What "permanently deleted" means here

QuikData actually gives a document one more safety net at this point: if no other copies of it are left in the Room, it moves to Orphan Documents rather than being destroyed outright.

Worth knowing: this check looks at Work Folders, eDiscovery Sources, Import folders, and Review Sets, but not Productions, so a document can still have a live, viewable copy sitting in a Production and get orphaned at the same time (see "Productions: what's different" above). Once a document is a genuine Orphan Document, it has no location left in the Room, so it won't turn up in Advanced Search or in a new Saved Search; the only place to find it is the Manage Orphan Documents screen.

Restore a document from Manage Orphan Documents

Select Manage, then Manage Orphan Documents.
Select the document(s) you want back.
Open Orphan Document Actions, then choose Restore Selected Orphan Documents.

Manage Orphan Documents screen Orphan Document Actions dropdown

Result: QuikData creates a new folder called Restore (<date>) under Work Folders and puts the document there. Its Responsiveness, Issue Codes, Confidentiality, and Notes all come back with it, untouched.

Warning: It won't go back to where it came from

Restoring from Orphan Documents never puts the document back in its original Work Folder or eDiscovery Source; it always lands in a new Restore (<date>) folder instead. That breaks the link between the document and the eDiscovery Source it was originally processed through, and there's no built-in way to reconnect them afterward. If where the document lives matters, for chain-of-custody reasons, for example, restore it from the Recycle Bin instead, before the bin gets emptied, whenever you can.

Delete or purge documents from Manage Orphan Documents

Under Orphan Document Actions, you'll find:

Delete Selected Orphan Documents: removes the document immediately, with no confirmation dialog, and removes it from any Production it's still part of.
Delete All Orphan Documents: deletes every document currently listed in the orphan grid, the same way as Delete Selected Orphan Documents. Treat it with the same Production-cascade caution, just applied to the whole list at once.
Purge Deleted Documents from Database: the last step in the full deletion lifecycle. Emptying the Recycle Bin sends a sole copy to Orphan Documents; Delete Selected or Delete All Orphan Documents removes it from that list (and from any Production it was still part of); Purge Deleted Documents from Database then clears it out of QuikData's underlying database. Running it does not affect documents still sitting in the Recycle Bin or still listed in Orphan Documents, only documents already removed from both.

Deduplication and deleted documents

Deduplication only applies to documents uploaded to an eDiscovery Source. Documents uploaded directly to a Work Folder or an Import folder are never deduplicated, so uploading the same file there again just creates a second copy.

For Source uploads, deduplication still checks against a document even after it's been deleted, as long as it still exists somewhere in the Room, whether that's the Recycle Bin or Orphan Documents. That leads to a specific scenario worth knowing about: if the original copy of a document (the one holding its original Doc ID) is sitting in the Recycle Bin or in Orphan Documents, and someone uploads that same file again to its eDiscovery Source, QuikData treats the original as the real copy. It pulls the original back out of the Recycle Bin or Orphan Documents and returns it to the Source under its original Doc ID, while the newly uploaded file becomes the duplicate and is the one that ends up in Orphan Documents instead.

Note: Why this matters

This is expected behavior, not a bug: duplicates always go to Orphan Documents. But it means the document that ends up back in your Source after a re-upload may not be the file that was just uploaded; it's whichever copy already existed, restored under its original Doc ID. Deleting or purging orphaned copies promptly avoids this kind of mixup.

Notes

The little document-count numbers in the folder tree, including on the Recycle Bin and Productions, can lag behind for a moment right after you delete or restore something. Refresh the page if you want to be sure you're looking at the current count.
Every action in this article requires Administrator access; there is no lower access tier that can delete, restore, or purge documents.

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