How to restore deleted leads in CRM: a 30-day lead recycle bin

A clinic administrator deleted a record, mistaking it for a duplicate. A week later the client calls and asks why nobody reminded them about the appointment — and you urgently need to restore deleted leads in CRM. Without a recycle bin, the client's contacts and work history would be gone. And with them, the ad money that brought this client in.

“Restore leads” is the recycle bin for deleted leads, that is, requests in the CRM. A lead deleted in “Leads” doesn't disappear right away: it stays here for 30 days. The main account, which is the account owner's account, returns it to work with one click, without contacting support. The recycle bin is available on any plan and costs nothing.

Watch the two-minute video, and below you'll find step-by-step instructions.

Why businesses need a recycle bin for deleted leads

• Online school: while cleaning up the base after a course intake, “inactive” leads were deleted, and there were future buyers among them. They're found by phone number and restored — you can call and message them again.
• Real estate and B2B: before leaving, a manager deleted their warm leads. The head of sales ticks them, restores them in bulk and hands them over to another manager.
• Online store: after a spam-bot attack on the website form or a failed import, junk requests are deleted forever so they don't get in the way.
• Any business: a client asks you to delete their personal data. The lead is erased for good without waiting 30 days. The CRM data itself is stored in line with personal data protection laws.

How long are deleted leads kept in a CRM?

1. A lead is deleted in “Leads”: from its row, from the card or by bulk deletion in the list of leads.
2. It goes to the recycle bin and stays there for 30 days.
3. During this time, it can be restored or deleted forever. A restored lead comes back exactly as it was: the same funnel step, owner, tasks, call and message history, and payments.
4. After 30 days, the lead is deleted automatically, and it can no longer be restored.

The table shows the “Name”, the “Phone”, the “Funnel stage” the lead was at when it was deleted, and the date in the “Deleted” column. Each project has its own recycle bin, with 50 leads per page. The section works only for the main account.

How to restore a deleted lead: step by step

1. 1
   Open the section

   The “Leads” menu → “Restore leads”.
2. 2
   Choose the project

   In the “Project” field, select the project where the lead was deleted.
3. 3
   Find the lead

   Type a name or phone number in “Search”.
4. 4
   Restore

   In the lead's row, click “↩ Restore”, then “Restore” in the “Restore leads?” window.
5. 5
   Check the result

   The message “Restored” appears, and the lead is back in the active “Leads” list.

How to restore several leads at once

Tick the rows you need. The checkbox in the header selects all leads currently visible in the table, taking the search into account. A dark “Selected: N” panel appears above the table with the “↩ Restore” and “🗑 Delete forever” buttons. The confirmation window shows in brackets how many leads the action will affect.

How to permanently delete a lead

The 🗑 button in a row or on the panel erases the lead along with its related data right away. You need it when a client asks you to delete their data or spam has cluttered the recycle bin. If the client is still in “Leads”, delete them there first.

How to prevent accidental lead deletion

Give the “Can delete leads / deals” right only to the head of sales: “Users” → the manager's card → “Access rights”. How to do this is covered in the article employee access rights. And check the recycle bin every week or two, so you have time to return what you need before it's cleared automatically.

Read also: CRM for small business: how to never lose a single lead, How to protect customer data from employees and unauthorized logins, CRM user permissions: how to add an employee and set access rights