Deleting/Disabling Categories

Article Number:040801

This article explains the steps to delete or disable categories and actions you should take when an error occurs.

Deleting categories

To delete a category, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Check that there are no records classified under the category that you want to delete
Step 2: Delete the category

Step 1: Check that there are no records classified under the category that you want to delete

Make sure to check records in both the activated app and the app's test environment.
Performing Functional Tests on Apps

  1. Click an app to open its "View" screen.

  2. Click the category that you want to delete.

  3. Check if there are records in the category.

  4. If there are any records, change the category to which they belong or remove them from the category that you want to delete.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until there are no records classified under the category.

Step 2: Delete the category

  1. Click the App Settings icon (the gear-shaped icon) at the upper right of the "View" screen.
    Screenshot: The "App Settings" icon is highlighted

  2. On the "App Settings" screen, select Categories under Advanced Settings on the App Settings tab.

  3. On the "Categories" screen, click the Delete icon to the right of the category that you want to delete.

  4. Click Save at the bottom right of the screen.

  5. On the "App Settings" screen, click Update App.

  6. On the "Update App" dialog, click Update App.

Error messages and solutions

This section describes what to do when the following error message is displayed.

Failed to complete the process. (Error: GAIA_CD07: The category "***" cannot be deleted because it contains one or more records in the activated app.)

The category you are trying to delete cannot be deleted because there are records classified under it.
If the category you want to delete has any records in it, you need to make it so there are no records in the category.
Step 1: Check that there are no records classified under the category that you want to delete

Note that even if two or more categories cannot be deleted, this error message will only include one category name.
Also, if the Category feature is disabled, you will need to enable it to check if the category contains any records.

Disabling the Category feature

  1. Click the App Settings icon (the gear-shaped icon) at the upper right of the "View" screen.
    Screenshot: The "App Settings" icon is highlighted

  2. On the "App Settings" screen, click Categories under Advanced Settings on the App Settings tab.

  3. On the "Categories" screen, uncheck the Use categories checkbox.

  4. Click Save at the bottom right of the screen.

  5. On the "App Settings" screen, click Update App.

  6. On the "Update App" dialog, click Update App.

Disabling the Category feature hides the "Categories" field on records. It also hides the category tree on the "View" screen.

Note that disabling the Category feature does not delete categories added on the Categories setting screen or delete the data of each record's "Categories" field.

Error messages and solutions

If an error message appears when you try to disable the Category feature, refer to the following and take necessary actions.

Error message Cause and solution
Cannot disable the category. The category has been referred from the Lookup field "***" in an app "***". Change the "***" field setting or delete the field itself in "***". The categories of this app are specified in the "Lookup" field setting in a different app. In this case, you cannot disable the Category feature.
To disable the Category feature, open the App Settings of the app indicated in the error message and change the setting of or delete the "Lookup" field.
Configuring a "Lookup" Field
Cannot disable the category. The category has been referred from the Related Record field "***" in the app "***". Change the "***" field setting or delete the field itself in "***" (app). The categories of this app are specified in the "Related records" field setting in a different app. In this case, you cannot disable the Category feature.
To disable the Category feature, open the App Settings of the app indicated in the error message and change the setting of or delete the "Related records" field.
Configuring a "Related Records" Field
Cannot disable the category. The category has been referred from the Lookup field "***" in the app "***", which was deleted and can be restored.
To disable the category, restore the app "*** (App ID: ***)", and then delete or change the Lookup field settings.
Only "Users & System Administrator" can restore the app. For more details, please refer to the help.
The categories of this app are specified in the "Lookup" field setting in a deleted app. In order to preserve data in the "Lookup" field in case a user wishes to restore the deleted app, kintone does not allow users to disable the Category feature.
To disable the Category feature, restore the deleted app and then change the setting or delete the "Lookup" field. Alternatively, you will be able to disable the Category feature after 14 days from the deletion of the app since the app will become unrecoverable at the time.
Note that only Users & System Administrators (users who can register users and departments and configure security settings) can restore apps.
Restoring Deleted Apps
Configuring a "Lookup" Field
Cannot disable the category. The category has been referred from the Related Record field "***" in the app "***", which was deleted and can be restored.
To disable the category, restore the app "*** (App ID: ***)", and then delete or change the Related Records field settings.
Only "Users & System Administrator" can restore the app. For more details, please refer to the help.
The categories of this app are specified in the "Related records" field setting in a deleted app. In order to preserve data in the "Related records" field in case a user wishes to restore the deleted app, kintone does not allow users to disable the Category feature.
To disable the Category feature, restore the deleted app and then change the setting or delete the "Related records" field. Alternatively, you will be able to disable the Category feature after 14 days from the deletion of the app since the app will become unrecoverable at the time.
Note that only Users & System Administrators (users who can register users and departments and configure security settings) can restore apps.
Restoring Deleted Apps
Configuring a "Related Records" Field