What it is
Archiving and deleting are project and keyword management actions in Keyword.com that control:
Whether ranking data remains accessible
Whether historical charts are preserved
Whether keywords count toward your active plan limit
Whether data can be restored later
Archiving is reversible.
Deleting is time-sensitive and eventually permanent.
Understanding the difference is critical to protecting historical ranking data.
Why it matters
Your ranking history represents:
SEO progress over time
Client reporting data
Competitive insights
Visibility and traffic trend tracking
Accidentally deleting a project or keywords can permanently remove this history.
Additionally:
Archived projects free up keyword quota.
Restoring projects requires available keyword capacity.
Cancelled accounts retain data for a limited time only.
Making the wrong choice can affect reporting, billing, and data continuity.
How it works
Archiving
Archiving removes a project from your active workspace while preserving all data.
When a project is archived:
It is removed from the active project list
All keyword ranking history remains intact
It moves to the Archive section
It does not count toward your active keyword limit
It can be restored at any time
Archived projects remain stored indefinitely.
Deleting
Deleting sends a project or group into a purge queue.
When deleted:
The project is removed from active view
You briefly see an Undo option
After that, it enters a deletion queue
It can typically be restored within 30 days
After that window, it is permanently deleted
Once permanently purged, data cannot be recovered.
Deleting Keywords
Deleting keywords from the Ranking Table:
Removes them from tracking immediately
Removes their historical ranking data from active reporting
Cannot be undone individually
Requires restoring the entire project (if still within deletion window) to recover them.
Keyword deletion is not reversible at the keyword level.
How it is done
To archive or delete a Project
Open the Project
Click the 3-dots menu
Select:
Archive Project, or
Delete Project
To restore an archived Project
Click your Profile icon (top right)
Select Archive
Choose the project(s)
Click Restore
⚠️ Important:
If there is not enough available keyword quota, the project cannot be restored until keywords are freed up or the plan is upgraded.
Delete Keywords
Select one or more keywords in the Ranking Table
Click Delete
Data retention & restoration rules
Action | Can Restore? | Time Limit | Data Retained? |
Archive Project | Yes | Indefinite | Yes |
Delete Project | Yes | 30 days | Yes (until purge) |
Delete Group | Yes | 30 days | Yes (until purge) |
Delete Keyword | No | Immediate | No |
Cancel Account | Yes | 6 months | Yes (until purge) |
If an account remains cancelled for 6 months, data is permanently purged.
Billing & keyword count impact
Archived keywords do not count toward active keyword limits.
Restoring a project requires available keyword quota.
Deleted keywords immediately free up quota.
If restoring exceeds your plan limit, restoration will fail.
Best practices
Use Archive when:
A client pauses SEO
A campaign is complete
You want to preserve historical reporting
There is any chance data may be needed again
Use Delete only when:
The data is permanently no longer required
You are certain restoration will not be needed
Before deleting:
Confirm internally
Ensure exports are saved if required
Consider archiving instead
When in doubt, archive, do not delete.