Every Wrike account accumulates things over time, such as workflows, custom fields, automations, spaces, and dashboards, among others. When no one is responsible for regularly removing what is no longer needed, the account degrades slowly and affects everyone who uses it.
Archiving versus deleting
I prefer archiving over deleting, and prefer switching things off over archiving. Deletion is permanent, but archiving keeps the data available in case you need it later.
Turning something off preserves it without removing it, which is almost always the safer first step.
For completed projects, all completed orders go into a dedicated space, then at the end of each year into a year-labelled folder, then the folder is archived. For blueprints that have new versions, keep a folder inside the blueprint section labelled “_old” so previous versions can be recovered if needed.
Custom fields
Removing a field that is used in a dashboard filter, an automation trigger, or a request form creates issues. A staged process is the safer approach. When a custom field is identified as a candidate for removal, rename it with a deletion prefix. To_delete_[fieldname] is a common convention. Notify the relevant teams that the data will be removed in 30 days and help them migrate anything they need. After 30 days, verify that the field is not referenced in forms, blueprints, automations, or reports. Then delete it.
Carry out an audit of custom fields, request forms, workflows, and automations at least twice a year. For custom fields, check when the field was last filled in. A field unused for years with team confirmation that it is no longer needed is safe to delete.
For request forms, switching them off is preferable to deleting them. Rename outdated forms with a prefix like zNOT IN USE or zDRAFT and switch the form to inactive so it cannot be submitted.
There are usage statistics for request forms so you know the last date a form was submitted, making it much easier to decide which inactive forms are safe to archive. This is a feature several admins have requested.
The limitations to know about
Archiving projects has a known limitation: archived projects are excluded from Wrike Analyze reporting. This sometimes forces teams to reactivate archived projects to run statistics, which defeats the purpose of archiving them. Confirm before archiving that you have extracted the data you need for historical reporting.