As your business grows, you may need to clear test data, tidy away inactive customers or handle a data request. Archive first, and delete only when you must.

Archive a customer

Archive a customer who has not visited for a long time, or to declutter your list. Archiving needs the account to have no upcoming or in-progress appointments; its completed and paid appointments stay in its history.

1. Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on one of the customer's pets.
2. Open Manage Owner and select Archive or Delete Account.
3. If the dialog offers a choice, choose Archive.
4. Tick the box that starts I want to archive, then select Archive customer account.

When you archive a customer:

• They disappear from your active customer list, and all their pets are archived too
• Their appointments stay in your history and reports
• Their link to your business is removed, so your business no longer shows in their Pet Owner App. Their login, and any other businesses they use, are not affected
• Petboost sends them no message about it

Archive a pet

Archive a pet that no longer visits, such as one that has been rehomed. The pet must have no upcoming or in-progress appointments and must not be the only pet on the account; for an only pet, archive the customer instead. If the pet has passed away, select the has gone to heaven entry, such as Dog has gone to heaven, in Manage Pet instead.

1. Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the pet.
2. Open Manage Pet and select Archive or Delete Pet.
3. If the dialog offers a choice, choose Archive.
4. Tick the box that starts I want to archive, then select Archive pet.

The pet can no longer be booked, its appointment history stays, and the owner's other pets and the customer stay active.

When a pet owner archives a pet or marks it as passed away

A pet owner can archive a pet, or mark it as passed away, in the Pet Owner App. You then see that pet as archived. If they marked it as passed away, the pet's profile shows has passed away after its name, with This profile is preserved in memory under it.

An archive by your team stays with your business. It does not change the pet owner's own record, or their records at other businesses.

Archive an appointment

Archive an old appointment to take it off the calendar.

1. Open the appointment from Appointments.
2. Open Manage and select Delete Appointment.
3. Choose Archive, tick the box that starts I want to archive, then select Archive appointment.

The appointment is hidden from the calendar, its details stay for reports and history, and the customer is not told.

Petboost has no bulk archive for appointments. For a large clean-up, contact support.

Restore an archived customer or pet

1. Open Customers & Pets, select Filter and set Show Archived Pets to Archived Only or All.
2. Select Manage on the pet.
3. On the banner at the top of the profile, select Restore customer account or Restore pet.

Restoring a customer account brings back all its archived pets as well, and adds your business back to their Pet Owner App. A pet marked as passed away has no Restore pet on its banner.

Restore an archived appointment

There is no restore button on an archived appointment. Archiving hides it from the calendar, and the record is kept, so the team can restore it for you.

1. Select Get Help in your dashboard, then Speak with the team.
2. Fill in How urgent?, What are you trying to do? and What's happening instead?, naming the appointment you need back.
3. Select Send to the team.

Permanent deletion

A permanent delete suits test data from your first set-up, duplicate records made by mistake, a GDPR "right to be forgotten" request, or a legal duty to remove data. It does not suit an inactive but real customer, a customer whose history you may want, or records you may need for a dispute or an insurance claim: archive those.

Hard delete a pet owner

You do not delete the pets first: permanently deleting an account removes the owner and their pets together. Petboost blocks it when the account has:

• Ever had an appointment
• Unused package credits
• A payment waiting to be collected

A new incomplete sign-up, an abandoned booking or unfinished profile with no confirmed booking, is not blocked by its draft pets. Delete it from the ribbon. See Delete an incomplete sign-up.

1. Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on one of the customer's pets.
2. Open Manage Owner and select Archive or Delete Account.
3. If the dialog offers a choice, choose Permanently Delete and read the warning.
4. Type DELETE and tick I understand this cannot be undone.
5. Select Delete customer account.

This removes the customer's profile and contact details, all the pets on the account, their Pet Owner App login and all their notes and communication history.

If the account has appointment history, Petboost blocks the delete. Archive the account instead, or dismiss an abandoned booking from the Action Required tab without deleting the customer.

Hard delete a pet

A pet can be deleted only when it has never had an appointment and is not the only pet on the account.

1. Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the pet.
2. Open Manage Pet and select Archive or Delete Pet.
3. If the dialog offers a choice, choose Permanently Delete and read the warning.
4. Type DELETE and tick I understand this cannot be undone.
5. Select Delete pet.

This removes the pet's profile and details, its vaccination certificates, and its notes and photos.

Hard delete an appointment

An appointment can be deleted only while it is Pending, Confirmed, Declined, Cancelled or Invoice Amount Void. A paid appointment cannot be deleted.

1. Open the appointment from Appointments.
2. Open Manage and select Delete Appointment.
3. Choose Permanently Delete, type DELETE and tick I understand this cannot be undone.
4. Select Delete appointment.

This removes the appointment record, its invoice details, its notes and photos, and its activity log.

Archive customers who have not booked since a date

Petboost does not bulk-delete customer records. Archive the people you no longer work with, and restore any of them from their profile if you need them again. A deletion request is one profile at a time, with Manage Owner > Archive or Delete Account.

1. Open Customers & Pets and open the gear menu beside Add New.
2. Select Archive Lapsed Customers. The dialog is titled Archive Lapsed & Opted-Out Customers.
3. On Set Conditions, switch on Has not booked since a date and pick the date.
4. Optional: switch on Has opted out of messages. If both are on, choose Match both or Match either.
5. Optional: tick Exclude customers who have never had an appointment.
6. Untick anyone you want to keep.
7. Select Next: Review.
8. On Review & Confirm, tick the box to confirm, then select Archive with the number of customers.

Archiving hides the owners and their pets from daily lists and keeps their history. Petboost archives them one at a time, and Stop halts the run, keeping everyone already archived. Restore a customer from their archived profile.

Handle a data request

A customer asks for their data to be deleted

1. Check the request is genuine by confirming the customer's identity.
2. Archive the customer first, to stop any new activity.
3. Review what data you hold.
4. When the account has no appointment history, permanently delete it, which removes the pets too.
5. Record the request and what you did.

A customer asks for a copy of their data

Contact Petboost support for a data export. We can provide their profile, pet information, appointment history, payment records and communication logs.

Keep records tidy

Before you delete anything:

• Archive first, and leave it archived for 30 days before a permanent delete
• Check there are no outstanding payments
• Ask for a data export first if you need one
• Note why you are deleting, especially for a GDPR request

A routine that works:

• Monthly: review any clean-up requests, mark pets that have passed away and archive rehomed pets. See How do I mark a pet as deceased?
• Quarterly: archive customers inactive for 2 years or more, and optionally old completed appointments
• Annually: review archived records and decide whether any should be permanently deleted

After importing data from another system, clear any test appointments, correct invalid data such as bad phone numbers, and archive the extra profile of any duplicate customer. Petboost does not merge two profiles. See How do I merge duplicate customer records?

Common questions

If I archive a customer, can they still see their booking history?

Not with your business. Archiving removes your business from their Pet Owner App. Restore the account to add it back.

Does archiving affect my reports?

Archived records usually stay in historical reports and drop out of active counts. Check the filters on each report.

Can I recover hard-deleted data?

No. A permanent delete cannot be reversed, and Petboost support cannot recover deleted data.

What happens to SMS history for deleted customers?

Communication logs are removed with the customer record when it is permanently deleted.

I accidentally deleted something important. What do I do?

Contact Petboost support straight away. Hard-deleted data cannot be recovered, but the team may be able to help with a recent deletion in some cases.

Related articles

• Un-cancel & Appointment Recovery: recovering cancelled appointments
• Customer & Pet Profiles: managing customer data
• Data Migration: importing data from other systems