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Poll: In general, for how long do you keep project-related files?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 31

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, for how long do you keep project-related files?".

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Alex Lichanow
Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 17:54
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
A year Aug 1

As long as there are no other stipulations to delete files earlier or keep them longer, I delete everything apart from invoices after a year.
 
Wolfgang Schoene
Wolfgang Schoene  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:54
Member (2007)
English to German
+ ...
I never delete anything Aug 1

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, for how long do you keep project-related files?".

View the poll results »



As per subject, however a lot of stuff gets lost when changing computer, in a HD crash etc.

neilmac
Chris Says Bye
Zea_Mays
Philippe Etienne
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Kevin Fulton
Michele Fauble
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:54
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Forever Aug 1

I keep everything. When I moved back to my home town in 2015 I found on my basement a lot of diskettes (do you remember those?)

Chris Says Bye
Ventnai
Kevin Fulton
Zea_Mays
 
Sovais Language Solutions
Sovais Language Solutions
Türkiye
Local time: 18:54
English to Turkish
+ ...
Past documents always revisited -Record keeping at its best! Aug 1

I keep pretty much anything and everything unless it is requested otherwise by the client. I do find value in revisiting past documents as they serve as a source of inspiration, information, or a way to track progress. I have a specific filing system for this

Zea_Mays
 
Josephine Cassar
Josephine Cassar  Identity Verified
Malta
Local time: 17:54
Member (2012)
English to Maltese
+ ...
Good for you Aug 1

Sovais Language Solutions wrote:

I keep pretty much anything and everything unless it is requested otherwise by the client. I do find value in revisiting past documents as they serve as a source of inspiration, information, or a way to track progress. I have a specific filing system for this

Care to share? Thanks.

Wolfgang Schoene
Andrea Quintana
 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:54
German to English
In perpetuity Aug 1

Sometime in the previous century I had a direct client that made me sign an agreement to delete all files 90 days after the end of a project. Although I should have known better, I waited 6 months then deleted the files. Shortly after that I got a phone call from a secretary at the client's firm asking for copies of the project files. She excoriated me for the deletion, the agreement notwithstanding. Since then I have retained all files, most of which have been archived on CDs. I still have purc... See more
Sometime in the previous century I had a direct client that made me sign an agreement to delete all files 90 days after the end of a project. Although I should have known better, I waited 6 months then deleted the files. Shortly after that I got a phone call from a secretary at the client's firm asking for copies of the project files. She excoriated me for the deletion, the agreement notwithstanding. Since then I have retained all files, most of which have been archived on CDs. I still have purchase orders and invoices going back to the 1990s, as well as project-specific databases (TM/term bases), the latter having proved useful when old projects have come back to life or undertaken by a different client years after the initial endeavor. ▲ Collapse


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Zea_Mays
Wolfgang Schoene
Erik-Martin Jansen Hesshaus
Chris Says Bye
 
Wolfgang Schoene
Wolfgang Schoene  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:54
Member (2007)
English to German
+ ...
I remember those Aug 2

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

I keep everything. When I moved back to my home town in 2015 I found on my basement a lot of diskettes (do you remember those?)


But failing the possibility to read them, I had to trash them all. No regrets ...

Chris Says Bye
Christine Andersen
 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:54
Member (2006)
German to English
Genrally after 10 years Aug 2

the same as I get rid of my tax documents. If I am still working for the client then I do tend to just leave all files there, otherwise files from customers I no longer work with just collect dust.
 
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:54
Serbian to English
+ ...
Which ones? Aug 4

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

I keep everything. When I moved back to my home town in 2015 I found on my basement a lot of diskettes (do you remember those?)


The last incarnation of floppy disks - the 3½-inch type? I still have few boxes of them laying around. And an external drive that can read them.

The first computer I used when employed was taking 5¼-inch floppy disks.

The first floppy disk I ever saw was the 8-inch model, when interpreting for a company buying new IT equipment. THAT was "state of the art" at that time.
 


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Poll: In general, for how long do you keep project-related files?






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