Delete an Envelope Permanently

For nearly every situation, archiving an envelope is the right way to retire it, since your history stays intact. Permanent deletion is a separate, much more severe action reserved for when you genuinely want an envelope and everything tied to it gone for good.

What Permanent Deletion Does

Deleting an envelope permanently removes the envelope itself and every transaction ever tagged to it. This is different from archiving, which always preserves transaction history. Once you confirm a permanent delete, there is no way to recover the envelope or its transactions.

Because of how destructive this is, it’s only available from the envelope’s detail page (not from the main Envelopes list), and only the budget’s owner can perform it.

Steps

Open the envelope you want to remove from the Envelopes page to reach its detail page.
Select the permanent delete action (distinct from Archive).
Type DELETE to confirm you understand this cannot be undone.
Confirm the action.

Notes

If you only want to stop using an envelope but keep its records for reports and history, use Archive instead, since it’s non-destructive and reversible in effect.
This action is restricted to the budget owner, so if you don’t see it, you may not hold that role on the budget.

Tips

Use permanent deletion for cleanup situations like a test envelope you created by mistake and never used for real spending, not for envelopes with genuine transaction history.
If you’re unsure, archive first. You can always come back and permanently delete later; you can’t undo a permanent delete.

Common Mistakes

Reaching for permanent delete to “clean up” an old envelope. If it has real transaction history, deleting it removes that history from your reports too. Archive it instead.
Assuming this is the same as the everyday delete/archive action on the Envelopes list. That action archives (soft-removes) an envelope and preserves history; this one is a separate, explicit, and permanent action reachable only from the envelope’s detail page.

Next Steps

Return to the Envelopes Overview or review Manage Envelopes to keep your remaining envelopes organized.

Delete an Envelope Permanently