Delete a Drop Down Option

[SComeau]

Hello,

I have a drop down option inside a property that I do not want users to have the ability to select anymore, however I don't want to lose the integrity of the data. I wish there was a way to archive this but deactivate for use. If I delete the option, will it remain for reporting purposes? Or will it be replaced with a blank?

[jebcashin]

There appears to be new behavior where options that have been selected by 1 or more contacts can no longer be deleted. They can be disabled from showing on the form and/or they can be merged into another value. I've created a non-form value called "Archived" and are merging the values to it. HubSpot changes the property value to "Archived" when this merger happens.

My guess is visible / internal values are not longer being stored, just numeric key references. Seems like a step backwards in the name of some kind of database optimization.

[BérangèreL]

Hi @jebcashin, @Tselani, @AShaikh8 and @MigPacbike,

Thank you for your valuable feedback!

I can see that you are trying to delete an option in a dropdown property.

I found the solution from @Jnix284 on this similar post "Removing options from 'industry' drop down" where it is indicated that the property cannot be edited if there is a value or if it is in use and you can see an option/workaround to clear/delete the option.

I'd like to also share these articles that might be of interest to you:

- Manage enumeration property options
- Create and edit properties (internal names)
- The post from @dennisedson on this post to delete the option via API "How To Delete an select option in a property in hubspot through api"

Thanks and have have a great day!
Bérangère

[MigPacbike]

@karstenkoehler  As Marie_ stated, we can no longer delete an option if it's populated within a record. Is there another way to remove an option from the internal dropdown list but retain the data?

It would be ideal if unchecking the "In Forms" option also removed it from the internal property, while still retaining the data on the back end.

[Tselani]

It seems like this behavior has significantly changed. We no longer have the ability to remove an option that has records with the selected value. The red underline indicating the no longer selectable value also seems to have been removed in recent updates. It would be great to have this feature back.

[AShaikh8]

is there any api for deleting dropdown option from a property?

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @SComeau,

Great question. When you delete an option, the contacts will retain that value and you can still report on it.

Let's look at an example. I have a property with options A, B, and C.

A contact has the value C:

After deleting the option C, HubSpot will remove it from the dropdown, underline the field in red but keep the value:

Reports will still show that there are contacts with this value:

Should you for some reason (e.g. a bulk edit) lose these old values (the C) and need to retrieve it again, this can be done via the property history, following the same logic as outlined here.

Hope this answers your question!

[Marie_]

Hi @karstenkoehler  - is there a trick to deleting the option? When I go to the property and select the option I want to delete, it doesn't give me the option to delete. There are currently contacts with the option selected. 

I can delete if there are no contacts selecting the option.

Thanks!

marie