May 10, 2026

How to Archive a Card in Trello (2026 Guide)

Trello Productivity How-to Project-Management

Archiving a card in Trello hides it from the board without losing the data. Unlike deleting, archive is reversible, every comment, attachment, member, and checklist stays intact and can be restored at any time. Here’s how to archive single cards, archive an entire list, find what you’ve archived, and set up Butler rules to archive automatically in 2026.

1. Archive a Single Card

There are four ways to archive one card. They all do the same thing, pick whichever fits your flow.

From the board (fastest)

Hover over the card on the board.
Click the pencil icon that appears in the top-right of the card.
In the quick-edit menu, select Archive.

From inside the card

Click the card to open it.
In the right-hand sidebar, scroll to the Actions section.
Click Archive.

Keyboard shortcut

Hover the cursor over the card on the board.
Press C.

The card archives instantly with no confirmation. (Press C again with the same card hovered to undo, or use the toast notification.)

From a completed card

If a card has been marked complete (with the new completion checkbox in 2026), an archive icon appears next to the completion mark on hover, click it to archive the completed card in one click.

Archive vs. delete. Archived cards are preserved with their full history and can be restored. Deleted cards are gone, comments, attachments, history, all of it. Trello requires you to archive a card before you can delete it. If you don’t see a Delete option, the card isn’t archived yet.

2. Archive Every Card in a List

When you finish a sprint, ship a release, or clear a Done column, archiving each card individually is slow. Use the list-level action instead.

Click the three-dot menu at the top-right of the list header.
Select Archive all cards in this list.
Confirm.

Every card in the list moves to the board’s archive. The list itself remains, empty and ready for the next batch of cards. To remove the list, use Archive this list from the same menu.

You can also drag the list to one side and use Move all cards in this list to migrate them to a different list before archiving the originals, if you want to keep an “active” copy somewhere.

3. Find and Restore Archived Cards

Archive is not a single global folder, it’s per-board. Each board has its own archive of cards and lists.

Open the archive

Click Show menu (or the three-dot icon) in the top-right of the board.
Click More.
Click Archived items.

Search the archive

The archive has its own search box that uses the same operators as Trello’s main search:

label:red, only red-labeled cards.
member:@username, cards a specific person was on.
due:overdue, cards that were overdue when archived.
Plain text, searches card title and description.

Toggle between Cards and Lists at the top of the panel to switch what’s shown.

Restore a card

Find the card in the archived items list.
Click Send to board next to it.

The card returns to its original list. If the original list has been archived too, restore the list first, then the card.

Delete instead of restore

Click Delete next to an archived card to remove it permanently. This action cannot be undone, there is no second-level archive or recycle bin. Trello shows a confirmation prompt because deleted cards are gone for good.

4. Automate Archiving with Butler

Butler is Trello’s built-in automation engine. It can archive cards based on triggers like list moves, due dates, label changes, or time passing. Available on every plan, with run limits that scale by tier.

Create an auto-archive rule

On any board, click Automation in the top toolbar.
Select Rules.
Click Create rule.
Set the trigger: for example:
- when a card is moved into list “Done”
- when the due date is marked complete in a card
- every day at 9:00 am
Click + Add action and choose:
- archive the card
- or with a delay: in 7 days, archive the card
Click Save.

Useful auto-archive recipes

Clean up Done weekly. Trigger: every Friday at 5:00 pm. Action: archive all cards in list “Done”.
Archive after sitting idle. Trigger: when a card hasn’t been edited in 30 days. Action: archive the card.
Archive completed items. Trigger: when the due date is marked complete. Action: in 3 days, archive the card.
Archive by label. Trigger: when the green “Shipped” label is added. Action: archive the card.

Plan limits

Plan	Butler command runs per month
Free	250
Standard	1,000
Premium	Unlimited
Enterprise	Unlimited

A “command run” is one trigger firing, moving five cards into Done counts as five runs of an “on-move-to-Done” rule. If you’re on Free and use Butler heavily, the 250-run cap gets hit fast.

Quick Reference

Action	Steps	Reversible?
Archive a card	Hover > pencil > Archive	Yes
Archive via shortcut	Hover card, press C	Yes
Archive all cards in a list	List menu > Archive all cards	Yes
Archive a list	List menu > Archive this list	Yes
Find archived items	Show menu > More > Archived items	n/a
Restore a card	Archived items > Send to board	n/a
Delete a card	Archive first, then Delete in archive	No

Which Approach Should You Use?

Cleaning up after a single completed card? Archive it from the card edit menu (or press C).
Wrapping up a sprint or releasing a column? Archive all cards in the list.
Tired of cleaning up the same way every week? Build a Butler rule.
Need to permanently remove a card? Archive first, then delete from the archive.

Stop Triaging Cards Manually

Archiving is just one piece of keeping a Trello board healthy, the bigger drain is creating cards from emails, updating descriptions from meeting notes, and moving cards between lists when something changes elsewhere. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps including Trello and handles those updates for you.

More Trello guides: How to export a Trello board · How to copy a board in Trello · Best AI workflow automation tools

Ready to automate your busywork?

Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.

Get Carly Today →

Or try our Free Group Scheduling Tool or Free Booking Page