# Clone & archive

URL: https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/clone-and-archive/

> Copy an experiment as a starting point and tidy up finished experiments.



Two functions help you to keep your project organized: **cloning** copies an experiment so that you do not have to
start from scratch, and **archiving** moves finished experiments out of your list.

## Clone an experiment

Clone an experiment if you want to run a similar test again, test a follow-up idea, or restart a test with fresh data.

1. Go to **Experiments** in your project.
2. Open the row menu of the experiment and click **Clone**.
3. Confirm the window **Clone Experiment** ("This will create a copy of the record.").

ABlyft shows the notification **Experiment cloned** with the link **Go to experiment**. You can also clone from the
**Archive** list, which is useful to repeat an old test.

### What is copied

| Copied                                                                              | Not copied                     |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Name (with the suffix **(Copy)**), description, tags and settings of the experiment | Results and collected data     |
| All variations, including their changes                                             | Schedule                       |
| Attached pages, audiences and goals                                                 | Membership in exclusion groups |
| Attached environments                                                               |                                |

The clone always starts as **Draft**, even if the original is running. Nothing is published until you start the clone.

> **Pages, audiences and goals are shared:** The clone uses the same pages, audiences and goals as the original, it does not duplicate them. If you change a page,
> audience or goal that is used by both, both experiments are affected.

Rename the clone so you can tell the two apart, then check variations and settings before you start it.

## Archive an experiment

Archiving removes an experiment from your active list without deleting it. Use it for experiments you have finished and
do not need any more day to day. Results and settings are kept.

1. Go to **Experiments**.
2. Open the row menu of the experiment and click **Archive**, then confirm. The notification **Archived successfully**
   appears.

To archive several experiments, select them and choose **Archive selected** in the bulk actions.

What happens when you archive:

* A **running** experiment is paused first, so visitors see the original page again.
* If the experiment was active, ABlyft publishes your project. See the
  [publishing delay](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/start-pause-stop/#publishing-delay).
* A schedule of the experiment is removed.
* The experiment no longer appears in the list of experiments.

## Find archived experiments

In the navigation, open **Experiments → Archive**. The number next to **Archive** shows how many experiments are
archived. The list shows:

* the columns **Variations**, **Environments**, **Archived at** (date and person), **Participants** and more, which you can
  toggle,
* the filter **Has collected data**,
* the button **Results** for experiments that collected data.

## Unarchive an experiment

1. Open **Experiments → Archive**.
2. Open the row menu of the experiment and click **Unarchive**, then confirm.

You can also select several experiments and choose **Unarchive selected**, or open an archived experiment and click
**Unarchive** at the top.

The experiment returns to your list. It keeps the status it had when it was archived. Because archiving pauses a running
experiment, an experiment that was running comes back as **Paused**.

## Delete an archived experiment

In the **Archive** list, the row menu also contains **Delete**, and the bulk actions contain a delete action. Delete only
experiments you really do not need any more. Members, admins and owners can delete experiments, see
[Roles & permissions](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/projects-and-teams/roles-and-permissions/).

## Automatic clean-up of archived experiments

ABlyft remembers in the visitor's browser which variation a visitor has seen in each experiment. Many experiments over
time can make this storage grow. To prevent this, turn on the project setting **Automatically clean up bucketing**
in **Project → Settings** (section **Project Activations Settings**).

When enabled, experiments that you archived within the last 6 months and that collected data are removed from this
storage in the browsers of your visitors. Archiving an experiment then also publishes the project, so that the snippet knows which
experiments to clean up.

## Next steps

- [Start, pause & finish](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/experiments/start-pause-stop/): The experiment statuses.
- [Interpret results](https://docs.ablyft.com/guides/results/interpret-results/): Read the results before you archive.