# Deleting a column in board layout - do the tasks get deleted?

**URL:** <https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724>\
**Category:** Ask the Community\
**Created:** [30 January 2020 09:40 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724 "2020-01-30T09:40:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Adam\_Raoof](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/adam_raoof/32/18312_2.png) [@Adam\_Raoof](https://forum.asana.com/u/Adam_Raoof)\
**Post date:** [30 January 2020 09:40 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724/1 "2020-01-30T09:40:08Z")

</div>

if I have deleted a column, does this also delete the tasks in that column?! I tried the board view, and decided against it, then wanted to delete the headings so deleted the columns… now the tasks appear to have disappeared!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Natalia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/natalia/32/34795_2.png) [@Natalia](https://forum.asana.com/u/Natalia)\
**Post date:** [30 January 2020 10:08 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724/2 "2020-01-30T10:08:17Z")

</div>

Hi @Adam_Raoof 👋 thank you for reaching out!

Apologies for the trouble here. What you are saying is correct. When you delete a Section, all tasks nested in this Section - Completed and incomplete tasks, will be also deleted. You can learn more about it in the following guide article: [https://asana.com/guide/help/projects/sections#gl-delete-section](https://asana.com/guide/help/projects/sections#gl-delete-section)

I would recommend you to have a look at this post: [How to delete section in project without deleting completed tasks? - #5 by Arthur\_Davis](https://forum.asana.com/t/how-to-delete-section-in-project-without-deleting-completed-tasks/70668/5). You might find this workaround useful for the future.

Additionally, to recover the deleted tasks you can follow the steps outlined here: [https://asana.com/guide/help/tasks/actions#gl-undelete-task](https://asana.com/guide/help/tasks/actions#gl-undelete-task)

Lastly, I’m listing below a few threads we have in the #productfeedback category regarding this topic. Feel free to cast your vote on any of them.

> [@Mark Sections as Complete (in new spreadsheet List view)](https://forum.asana.com/t/mark-sections-as-complete-in-new-spreadsheet-list-view/62757):
>
> NEED: The ability to mark a section as complete so it no longer appears within a project when filtering for incomplete tasks. AND to be able to do that without deleting the history of tasks within that section. SUGGESTION: Add an option to sections and boards to either a) complete the section as you would a task, or b) archive the section as you would a project. \*Please do not conflate this issue with the need to be able to delete a section. These are two related but fundamentally different is…

> [@Deleting Sections WITHOUT Deleting Tasks](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-sections-without-deleting-tasks/67404):
>
> Hi, We ned to be able to delete a section without the tasks within being deleted. Deleting a section which has tasks within should throw up the option to delete or orphan the enclosed tasks. Thanks, Gareth.

> [@Archive a Section in a Project](https://forum.asana.com/t/archive-a-section-in-a-project/4047):
>
> When you mark a Section task complete currently, the tasks that were below it lose their reference to the section (whether they are marked Complete or not). It would be ideal to be able to remove completed Sections from view in a Project, without losing the link between the Section and the Tasks that were in it.

I hope this helps Adam! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Adam\_Raoof](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/adam_raoof/32/18312_2.png) [@Adam\_Raoof](https://forum.asana.com/u/Adam_Raoof)\
**Post date:** [30 January 2020 10:10 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724/3 "2020-01-30T10:10:31Z")

</div>

thanks Natalia - this is very important to change, as we should always get a warning when tasks are about to be deleted… I will try to recover the tasks now…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Emily\_Roman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/asana/user_avatar/forum.asana.com/emily_roman/32/283076_2.png) [@Emily\_Roman](https://forum.asana.com/u/Emily_Roman)\
**Post date:** [27 October 2021 10:01 UTC](https://forum.asana.com/t/deleting-a-column-in-board-layout-do-the-tasks-get-deleted/72724/4 "2021-10-27T10:01:16Z")

</div>


