> Lock a memo to stop edits and comments. Archive it to make it read-only and hidden from lists. Move it to trash to delete it, with time to restore.

# Lock, archive or delete a memo

There are three ways to stop a memo changing or get it out of the way, and each one answers a different need:

- **Lock** it when it's final, such as a signed statement of work. Nobody can edit it or add comments, you included, and that includes your AI, until it's unlocked.

- **Archive** it when it's finished with but worth keeping. It becomes read-only and drops out of the default lists, so the collection stays current without losing the record.

- **Move it to trash** to delete it. You can restore it for a while before it's gone for good.

All three are in the memo's menu (**More**, top right).

## Lock a memo

1. Open the memo's menu and choose **Lock memo**.

2. Confirm. While it's locked, no one can edit the memo, change its properties or post new comments, from the web or from an AI.

Choose **Unlock memo** to allow changes again. The memo's owner locks and unlocks it from the menu. Your AI can lock a memo too if you have edit access, but unlocking is always confirmed in the browser.

## Archive a memo

1. Open the memo's menu and choose **Archive memo**.

2. Confirm.

An archived memo:

- Is read-only.

- Is hidden from the default lists and from published collections. It still turns up in search, shown dimmed, so it can be found.

- Can only be opened by members of the workspace. Its share link and any guest access are paused until it's unarchived.

To bring it back, open it and choose **Unarchive memo**, or find it under **Archived** at the bottom of **My memos** and click **Unarchive**. Anyone who can edit the memo can archive or unarchive it.

## Delete a memo

1. Open the memo's menu and choose **Move to trash**.

2. Confirm.

The memo goes to the workspace's **Trash**, which you can open from the search box (**Cmd+K**, then **Trash**). From there you can **Restore** it, or **Remove** it from the list.

How long you can restore it depends on the workspace's plan:

|  | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| You can restore it from Trash for | 7 days | 30 days |
| Workspace managers can recover it for | no extra time | a further 30 days |
| Permanently deleted after | 7 days | 60 days |

On Pro, once your own window has passed, a workspace owner or admin can still bring the memo back from **Workspace settings** under **Trash recovery**. **Restore to…** lets them choose which member gets it.

The date is fixed when the memo is trashed, so changing plan later doesn't move it. **Clear trash** hides items from the list, but they're still permanently deleted on the same date.

When a memo is permanently deleted, its comments, versions, images, artifacts and attached files go with it.

## Have your AI do it

Locking and archiving are quick to hand off to your AI once it's connected (see [Connect Claude to Fieldwerk](https://help.fieldwerk.ai/pz1hhc2mwy/connect-claude-to-fieldwerk.md) or [Connect ChatGPT to Fieldwerk](https://help.fieldwerk.ai/exh83fg13f/connect-chatgpt-to-fieldwerk.md)), and it can do them in bulk:

```prompt
In Fieldwerk, lock one of my memos so nobody can change it. Ask me which memo, then find it and check with me that it's the right one before you lock it.
```

```prompt
In Fieldwerk, show me my collections and ask which one to tidy. Then list the memos in it that haven't changed in the last six months, and archive the ones I pick.
```

Your AI can move a memo to trash and restore it too, but a locked memo must be unlocked first.