# How do I permanently delete cases?

**URL:** <https://forum.dimagi.com/t/how-do-i-permanently-delete-cases/3058>\
**Category:** Users\
**Created:** [October 29, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/how-do-i-permanently-delete-cases/3058 "2016-10-29T11:29:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Simon\_Berry](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.dimagi.com/simon_berry/32/492_2.png) [@Simon\_Berry](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Simon_Berry)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/how-do-i-permanently-delete-cases/3058/1 "2016-10-29T11:29:30Z")

</div>

Hi

I want to check this procedure before I actually do it!

I have cases that I want to permanently delete. These cases have been  
created during testing.

So I have reassigned the cases to a user called 'junkuser' using  
Data\>Reassign Cases.

If I now delete 'junkuser' will all the cases assigned to 'junkuser' be  
permanently deleted? This is the outcome I want.

Once this is complete, I intend to recreate a user called 'junkuser' so  
that I can continue to assign cases to this user that I want to permanently  
delete at sometime in the future.

Thanks

Simon

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kishan\_Sampat](https://dimagi.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.dimagi.com/kishan_sampat/32/500_2.png) [@Kishan\_Sampat](https://forum.dimagi.com/u/Kishan_Sampat)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.dimagi.com/t/how-do-i-permanently-delete-cases/3058/2 "2016-10-30T16:42:05Z")

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Hi Simon,

If you have reassigned the cases to 'junkuser', and you delete that  
user, forms submitted against that case by the original user will still  
appear under saved exports unless the original user is deleted. This may  
cause some confusion for you (please see this page  
[https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Remove+Test+or+Practice+Data](https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Remove+Test+or+Practice+Data)  
for  
more details.

The best approach I would recommend is to archive the forms which created  
those cases. You can also see this page  
[https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Archive+Forms](https://confluence.dimagi.com/display/commcarepublic/Archive+Forms) for  
more information on archiving forms.

Regards,  
Kishan

> **···**
>
> ᐧ
> 
> On Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 4:59 PM, Simon Berry [simon@colalife.org](mailto:simon@colalife.org) wrote:
> 
> > Hi
> > 
> > I want to check this procedure before I actually do it!
> > 
> > I have cases that I want to permanently delete. These cases have been  
> > created during testing.
> > 
> > So I have reassigned the cases to a user called 'junkuser' using  
> > Data\>Reassign Cases.
> > 
> > If I now delete 'junkuser' will all the cases assigned to 'junkuser' be  
> > permanently deleted? This is the outcome I want.
> > 
> > Once this is complete, I intend to recreate a user called 'junkuser' so  
> > that I can continue to assign cases to this user that I want to permanently  
> > delete at sometime in the future.
> > 
> > Thanks
> > 
> > Simon
> > 
> > --  
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> > "commcare-users" group.  
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
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> > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/d/optout](https://groups.google.com/d/optout).
> 
> --
> 
> Kishan Sampat  
> Technical Support Analyst  
> Dimagi - India