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LB_125123646-Contributor
6-Contributor
March 5, 2026
Question

Permenantly Delete Choice Field Options

  • March 5, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 84 views

I found this previous post on this topic: Solved: Re: Delete choice field options permanently in cod... - PTC Community

 

I understand this is by design but the functionality is frustrating for a couple of reasons:

 

1. Deleted choices become obsolete but still appear as an option in filtering, confusing users.

2. Choice field options are automatically created on import so if the original import is not perfectly formatted, new choice field options are now locked into the tracker permanently.

 

If there's no way to allow us to permanently delete these choices (without deleting and re-creating the field), there should be additional work arounds to at least hide these options from users and permanently lock the field down to avoid accidental creation of new choices upon imports.

    1 reply

    P
    18-Opal
    pshashipreetham18-Opal
    18-Opal
    March 10, 2026

    Hi, 

     

    You’re right that this is mostly by design in Codebeamer, but there are a couple of practical ways people usually handle it.

    Choice options cannot be permanently deleted once they have been used by an item. When you delete them from the field configuration, Codebeamer only marks them as obsolete so historical data stays consistent. That’s why they still appear in filters.

     

    Two common workarounds are usually used:

    • Disable automatic option creation on import – in the import mapping, map values strictly to the existing choice list so new options are not created automatically. This prevents the list from growing unintentionally.

    • Hide obsolete options from users – keep them marked as obsolete and adjust tracker permissions or UI configuration so users only see the active values when editing items.

     

    If the list becomes too polluted due to imports, the only clean reset is still to create a new choice field with the correct option list and migrate the values, which avoids carrying the obsolete options forward.

     

    Thanks.

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