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

# Deleting a Collection

> What deleting a Collection permanently removes, why your printed QR codes keep working anyway, and what to export before you confirm

Deleting a Collection permanently removes the Collection, every Item in it, and its page design.
The Links those Items were using are **released, not deleted** — so QR codes already printed and
installed keep working.

The action is in **Settings → Admin → Danger zone → Delete**. A confirmation dialog states the
same thing before it runs.

## What is permanently gone

* **The Collection itself**, including its field schema and all its settings
* **Every Item in it** — all field values, and any page override saved against an individual Item
* **The page template**, including its version history

There is no archive, no trash and no undo. Collections have no "archived" state to fall back on:
once confirmed, the records are removed from the database immediately.

## What survives

**The Links.** Every Link that was assigned to an Item in this Collection is unassigned first and
returned to your unassigned pool, and only then is the Collection deleted. That order is
deliberate — it is what keeps a plaque bolted to a machine from becoming a dead code. Each of
those Links keeps its address, still resolves, and can be assigned to a new Item whenever you are
ready.

That means deleting a Collection is recoverable in the one way that matters physically: you lose
the data, you do not lose the printed codes. For what a released Link does in the meantime and how
to reassign one, see [Deleting, Unassigning, and Releasing
Links](/links/deleting-and-releasing-links).

**Print batches.** Any print batch that was created from this Collection stays, along with its
stored CSV and per-code deployment status. It simply loses the "made from this Collection"
association.

**Team-level things.** Numbered link patterns your team reserved stay reserved, and remain
available to other Collections. Team members, billing and other Collections are untouched.

## Before you confirm

1. **Export the Items to CSV** from the Item grid. This is the only way to keep them — and note
   that a [Collection backup](/collections/export-backup) will *not* help here, because backups
   deliberately exclude Items.
2. **Export a Collection backup** if you may want the structure again — the fields, settings and
   page design. That file can later recreate the Collection as a new one.
3. **Check whether codes are deployed.** They will keep resolving, but each released Link needs
   reassigning before it points anywhere useful again. If there are hundreds, plan that work before
   you delete rather than after.

If your real goal is a clean slate rather than removal, changing the field schema and page design
in place is usually less disruptive than deleting — the Items and their Link assignments stay
intact throughout.

## Related

* [Deleting, Unassigning, and Releasing Links](/links/deleting-and-releasing-links)
* [Exporting a Collection Backup](/collections/export-backup)
* [Exporting Items to CSV](/import-export/exporting-items)
* [What Is a Collection?](/collections/overview)