The file lifecycle
Only permanent deletion stops storage charges. Archiving does not. Trashing does not. This page covers why a cleanup may not have changed your storage bill.
The states
Three of the four cost money. The file content sits in object storage in every state except the last.
Archiving
Archiving tidies your view. It moves files out of your default lists into an archived view, and you can recover them at any time.
It does not reduce storage cost. Archived content is still stored.
At the job level, archiving does something more aggressive. It moves files to the trash and deletes any CFS data. See archive and delete jobs.
The trash
Deleting a file from the Files tab moves it to Trash. Three actions there:
Empty All is the one that actually moves your storage bill, and it's irreversible for every file at once. Check what's in there first.
Storage charges continue for as long as a file exists in any form. Emptying the trash is the step that stops them.
When the trash empties itself
Your workspace admin sets a purge schedule. The default is one day after a file reaches the trash.
One day is short. If there's any chance you'll want a file back, Restore it promptly or download it first, after purge, a recovered job gives you its metadata and nothing else.
Permanent deletion
Permanent deletion is irreversible.
Rescale stores one copy of your data. Once a file is deleted (whether you delete it directly or empty it from the trash) it cannot be recovered by you or by Rescale Support.
Download anything you might need before deleting.
Retention settings your admin controls
Workspace admins configure retention under Policies → Platform Settings. Settings apply to all Rescale-managed object storage.
Auto-trash is off, so nothing is trashed unless you archive or delete it. Auto-purge is on at one day, so once something is trashed you have about a day to change your mind.
Net effect: nothing disappears on its own, but anything you archive is effectively gone tomorrow.
The workspace retention policy operates on individual file records, not on the folder structure. A file archived by policy may not appear in the Trash view on the Files tab even though it has been archived.
If a file is missing but you never deleted it, ask your admin whether retention policy caught it.
Finding what to clean up
The jobs list has a Storage column showing input plus output volume per job. Sort by it and export a CSV to total things up.
Sorting by size beats cleaning up by date. A handful of large DOE studies usually dominates everything else.
Related
- Archive and delete jobs — the job-level workflow
- Browse your files — where the trash and archived views live
- Limits and policies — what happens when you hit a storage cap
- Billing reports — how the storage charge is calculated