Differences between Deleting, Inactivating, and Taking a Website Offline

Your reasons for making a website inaccessible should determine whether you delete, inactivate, or take it offline for maintenance. The following table describes the differences:

	Offline Website	Inactive Website	Deleted Website
Purpose	Takes website offline temporarily for maintenance	Makes website inactive permanently (reactivation is possible with restrictions)	Removes website permanently and irrecoverably
Feasibility	No restrictions	No restrictions	Possible only if there are no dependant records
Website record	Retains website record together with all internal references	Retains website record together with all internal references	Deletes website record
Cache (CDN and internal cache)	Retains cache	Deletes cache	Deletes cache
Search Index	Retains search index	Deletes search index	Deletes search index
Alternative page	Displays custom maintenance page or default maintenance message	Displays “Site not found” error	Displays “Site not found” error
Site licence	Uses a site licence	Does not use a site licence	Does not use a site licence
Displayed in lists	Displayed in website lists, dropdowns etc.	Not displayed in most website lists, dropdowns etc.	Not displayed in any website lists, dropdowns, etc.
Included in search results and reports	Included in searches and reports	Included in searches and reports. Can be filtered out.	Not included in searches and reports
Reactivation	Can be brought back online at any time	Can be reactivated but the following restrictions apply: A site licence must be available. The search index must be rebuilt before the website is accessible to visitors. The time it takes to complete the process is relative to the number of items being indexed. If SuiteTax is enabled, the Web Site Scope must be set to either Information and Catalog or Information Only (only for Site Builder sites).	Cannot be reactivated

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