Archiving tracking options in Xero one at a time? The manual steps, delete vs archive, and a reversible bulk job

Full disclosure: I'm the developer of BulkOps, a Xero add-on. The manual process below is accurate regardless of whether you use it.

If you use tracking categories in Xero for job numbers, projects, events or locations, the option list only ever grows. Finished jobs stay in every pick-list until someone archives them, and in Xero options are archived one at a time. For a few finished jobs that is fine. With hundreds it is a long session of clicking, which is why bulk archiving is a popular request on Xero's idea board (150+ votes).

Here is the manual route, the difference between deleting and archiving, and how to archive hundreds of options in one reversible job.

The manual process

1. Go to Settings (Organisation settings) → Advanced settings → Tracking categories.
2. Open the category (for example "Job Number").
3. Next to a single option, open the menu and choose Archive. Confirm.
4. Repeat for every option. Each one is archived individually.

Archiving does not delete history. Archived options keep their transactions and reporting; they just stop appearing in pick-lists. That is exactly why regular cleanup is worth doing: the reports stay intact and the people entering transactions stop scrolling past two years of finished jobs.

Deleting vs archiving

Xero deletes an option only if it has never been used on a transaction. Anything that has been used can only be archived. So for real-world cleanup (finished jobs with history), archiving is the only route, bulk or not.

Why this matters more than it looks

Xero allows two active tracking categories per organisation, with a limit on active options in each (100 on most plans). Organisations that track jobs or events hit that ceiling, and at that point you cannot add the next job number until old ones are archived. Cleanup stops being tidiness and becomes the thing blocking data entry.

Archiving hundreds of options at once

BulkOps (built by me) connects via Xero's official OAuth and turns the cleanup into one job:

• It lists every tracking category and option in your organisation, active and archived.
• Tick the options to archive, individually or a whole category at once, and review the list before anything runs.
• They are archived as a background job under Xero's API rate limits, with a per-item result. It works for options that are in use on transactions.
• Fully reversible: one click restores everything a job archived, and every change is logged to a CSV audit trail.

Previews are unlimited and free, and the first 25 archived options cost nothing, no card required: https://bulkops.microspear.app/guides/bulk-archive-tracking-categories-xero

FAQ

Does archiving a tracking option affect old reports?
No. Historical transactions and reporting keep the option; it only leaves the pick-lists.

Can I restore an archived option?
Yes. Restoring makes it active again, in Xero one at a time or in BulkOps as the undo button on any archive job.

Is there a limit on tracking categories?
Two active tracking categories per organisation, with up to 100 active options each on most plans. Another reason to keep them pruned.