Trash and Retention
Chapter 9: Trash and Retention
Two distinct systems govern which recordings you can actually play back at any moment: Trash (short-term, after you delete) and the retention cap (long-term, on free tier). Neither loses data by default, but they behave differently.
Trash — the 30-day soft delete
Deleting a recording from the library moves it to Trash, a separate view accessible from the library sidebar. Trashed recordings:
- Stay in Trash for 30 days before being purged permanently.
- Are not searchable from the main library search.
- Are not shareable.
- Can be restored to the library with one click during the 30 days.
Emptying Trash is instant and irreversible — recordings deleted from Trash cannot be recovered.
Batch trash actions:
- Restore all — puts everything back in the library.
- Empty Trash — hard-deletes everything.
- Per-row Restore or Delete forever.
Retention cap — how the free tier archives, not deletes
Sync Pro has no retention cap. Team plans have a cap scaled to seat count. Free tier has a cap in total minutes retained.
When free tier exceeds the cap:
- Oldest recordings archive — visible in the library but not playable.
- An archive icon replaces the play button on the archived row.
- Clicking an archived recording opens a message: "This recording is archived. Upgrade to Sync Pro or delete some recordings to free space."
- The transcript and AI summary are retained server-side — archiving is a play-back gate, not a data delete.
Archived recordings are not in Trash. They're in the main library but blocked from playback.
Restoring an archived recording
Two ways:
- Upgrade to Sync Pro. Every archived recording becomes playable instantly. No re-processing, no re-upload.
- Delete other recordings to free space. When you drop below the cap, older archived recordings automatically unarchive in reverse-archive order (oldest ones come back last).
Downloading before deleting
Before a permanent delete (either "Delete forever" from Trash or a full account deletion), consider downloading:
- Download audio — the source
.webm/.mp4. - Download transcript — TXT / SRT / JSON.
- Download summary — Markdown / JSON.
Downloads are available on all tiers and preserve the essence of the recording locally. Once permanently deleted from SeaMeet, the recording cannot be recovered — the download is your only backup.
Storage indicators
The library's top bar shows a storage indicator when you're over 80% of your cap (free tier only). Sync Pro accounts don't see this — no cap.
The indicator links to the pricing page for an upgrade path, or to Trash if there's a lot of trashed content you could permanently delete to reclaim quota. (Trashed content still counts against your cap for its 30-day window.)
Team plan interaction
Team library recordings do not count against individual retention caps. Adding a personal recording to the team library moves it out of your personal quota into the team's pool. Removing it later moves it back — worth knowing if you're near your cap.
When the retention math surprises you
A common gotcha: recordings you can no longer see in playback but that still occupy your storage quota. The rules:
- Trashed recordings occupy your quota for 30 days after trashing.
- Archived recordings (free tier past cap) occupy quota — archiving is a display state, not a storage state.
To free real storage, you have to hard-delete from Trash or permanently delete from the row's more-menu. Both are irreversible.
Account deletion
Not in the web app UI. Requests go through support (email link in Account settings). Deliberate — deletion is irreversible, cascades across recordings and teams, and warrants human review to check nothing important is being lost.
Between requesting and deletion, you can cancel by replying to the confirmation email.
Quick Reference
| Task | How |
|---|---|
| Delete a recording (soft) | Row menu → Delete → Trash for 30 days |
| Restore from Trash | Trash view → row → Restore |
| Permanently delete | Trash view → row → Delete forever |
| Empty Trash | Trash view toolbar → Empty Trash |
| Unarchive on free tier | Upgrade to Sync Pro OR delete other recordings |
| Download before deleting | Player → Download (audio / transcript / summary) |
| Delete account | Contact support |
Last updated: 2026-08-28
Published: