Take an app down or delete it

There is no separate "unpublish" step that returns a published app to a draft. What you can do is stop other people opening it, or delete it permanently. This guide explains both, and what each one does to your app's data.

Make an app private instead

The closest thing to taking an app down is making it private.

Open the app, select Open Session, then select Publish above the app.
In the Access card, select Make private.

The same card is in Settings → Publish.

Only you and the people you have added to the app can open it after that. Everyone else is asked to sign in and cannot view it. The app keeps its address, its build, and its data, and you can select Make public to open it up again. This step is reversible.

Making an app private also locks out people who were using it through its own sign-in, until you add them in Team. Choose who can open your app covers the setting in full.

When an app pauses by itself

If the month's included usage and the balance on your account both run out, your published apps stop serving. A visitor sees a page saying the app is paused, with a note that adding credits resumes it. This happens automatically; it is not a setting you turn on or off. The app's data is not affected, and serving resumes once credit is added or the allowance renews. See Credits and top-ups.

Delete an app permanently

Deleting removes the app, its data, and its published site. It cannot be undone, and there is no archive to restore from. You are asked to confirm first, with a reminder that the app and its data are permanently deleted.

You can delete from either place:

The app's page in the Desk: select the delete control in the top-right, beside Open Session.
Inside the app's session: Settings, then App, then Delete app.

Deleting also removes the app's stored project, along with any access you gave a developer to it. Its subdomain is released at the same time, so anyone can claim it, and every link you shared to the app — under its name or its id — then shows only an App not found message.

Keep a copy before you delete

If you might want the app again, keep a copy first. The app's page has an Export & Clone card with Download project (.zip) and Duplicate app, and inside the session, Settings then Project, adds Download build (.zip) for the published site's files. Keep a copy of your app explains what each one contains and what it leaves behind.

Delete your account

Deleting your account removes your profile and personal data. Your apps must be deleted first; the account dialog says so, and AppHandle refuses the deletion until they are. Open the account settings from the bottom of the Desk sidebar, go to Profile, then select Delete my account at the bottom of the section to reveal the deletion block.

Before you delete

Check that no one depends on the app's address. Once the app is gone, its address stops working, and nothing brings the app or its data back.

Where to go next

If you only need to limit who can open the app, Choose who can open your app explains public and private access.