Danger Zone Erasing Data

Danger zone: erasing data

The danger zone lets you selectively wipe parts of your data — a single kind of record, a whole section, or every trace of Gubbins on this device — without resorting to an all-or-nothing reset.

Where to find it: Settings → Danger zone → Erase data…

⚠️ Heads-up Erasing can't be undone. Take a backup first — the dialog offers a shortcut to the backup screen before you remove anything.

How it works

The Erase data dialog groups everything erasable into tabs, one per area, plus a separate Erase everything tab. Tick exactly what you want gone; each entry shows roughly how many records it will remove, and a running total sits at the foot of the dialog. Nothing happens until you confirm.

Some entries include others: ticking All items, for example, already takes their photos, history and checkouts with them, so those entries are shown as included rather than letting you think they're separate jobs.

What you can erase

Inventory

Entry	What goes
All items	Every item and everything attached to it — photos, history, tag links, custom field values, capabilities, checkouts, maintenance schedules, stock and supplier parts. Project BOM and purchase-order lines survive, but lose their link to the deleted items.
Item photos	Every photo, thumbnails and full-resolution files. The items stay.
Activity history	The activity log for every item. Current state is kept; only the audit trail goes.
Checkout & loan records	Every checkout/loan record. Items and contacts stay.
Maintenance schedules	Every maintenance and calibration schedule. The items stay.
Supplier parts	Every supplier/order-code mapping. Purchase-order lines stay but lose the link.
Custom field values	The values stored against items' custom fields. The field definitions themselves are kept.
Tags	Every tag, removed from all items. The items stay.

Organisation

Entry	What goes
Categories & schemas	Every category and the custom fields assigned to it, plus the matching values on items. Items stay but become uncategorised. The field dictionary and any values set on locations are kept.
Custom field dictionary	Every custom field definition, and with it the values stored against items and locations. This removes the vocabulary itself, not just the values.
Empty custom locations	Your empty custom locations only. Built-in system locations, and any location still holding items or stock, are kept — empty those first if you want the location gone.

ℹ️ Note Custom field values and Custom field dictionary are deliberately different. The first clears what's stored and leaves the fields available to use again; the second removes the fields themselves. Reach for the first unless you genuinely want the vocabulary gone.

Projects & purchasing, and contacts

• Projects — every project with its BOM lines, budget categories and expense ledger. Items referenced by a BOM are kept.
• Purchase orders — every purchase order and its lines. Items and supplier parts are kept.
• Contacts — every contact and their checkout/loan records. Items are kept.

App & this device

These are local settings rather than inventory data, and none of them touch your records:

• App preferences — theme, units, scanner settings and so on, back to defaults.
• Dashboard layout — your customised widget layout.
• Saved searches — the searches you saved on this device.
• Dismissed alerts — so any still-relevant alerts reappear, including reminders you've already been notified about.
• Enabled features — which optional features are switched on for this device, back to the start, so the first-run feature chooser runs again next time the app starts. No data is deleted.
• Cloud sign-in — signs you out of cloud sync and discards the stored cloud access token. No data is deleted.
• Sync links & pending deletions — clears the links between this device and the cloud, along with any unresolved sync conflicts, so the next sync starts fresh. Your inventory is not deleted.
• Drafts & reminders — the local odds and ends: export drafts, app-update reminders, an in-progress stock-take, which location groups are expanded, remembered dialog sizes, and which one-off celebrations have already played.

Erasing on your other devices too

If you use cloud sync, the confirmation step offers a choice:

• Off (the default) — the data is removed only from this device. Your cloud backup and other signed-in devices are left untouched.
• On — a deletion marker is written so the erase propagates to the cloud and your other devices on the next sync.

💡 Tip Leave it off if you're clearing space or starting fresh on one device but want your data intact elsewhere. Turn it on when you genuinely want the records gone everywhere.

Erase everything

The separate Erase everything tab is a factory reset: it removes every trace of Gubbins from this device — database, photos, settings, sign-in and sync links — and reloads the app as if newly installed. You'll be asked to confirm.

Related pages

• Backup & restore — take one before erasing anything.
• Export & import — another way to keep a copy of your data.
• Custom fields & capabilities — what the field dictionary is.
• Cloud sync — how propagation to other devices works.
• Storage triage — reclaiming space without deleting records outright.
• How your data is stored — where all of this lives.