Remove a Workflow Solution from a Site or Web Application

A Workflow Conductor workflow solution must be deployed in order to test it. If a Designer creates multiple versions of a workflow before a "final" version is ready, the earlier versions remain in the site in multiple places:

• As an associated workflow in the list or library
• As an active feature in the site collection
• As a deployed solution in the Web application

Designers or administrators may want to remove these earlier versions to prevent confusion and to maintain a clean SharePoint environment. There are multiple ways to do this, depending on how completely you want to remove the workflow solution and what permissions you have in the site:

• Disable the workflow in the list or library
• Delete the workflow association in the list or library
• Deactivate the workflow feature in the site collection
• Retract and remove the workflow solution from the Web application

Disable the workflow in the list or library

If you want the workflow solution to remain associated to the list or library but you don't want users to start any new instances of it, disable it. The workflow can be enabled again later.

You must have Design or Full Control permission on the list or library to perform these procedures.

Delete the workflow association in the list or library

If you no longer want the workflow solution associated to a particular list or library but you want the workflow to remain available for users with Design or Full Control permission to associate to other lists or libraries in the site collection, simply delete its association from any list where it is no longer wanted. Deleting a workflow association will terminate any running instances of the workflow.

You must have Design or Full Control permission on the list or library to perform these procedures.

Deactivate the workflow feature in the site collection

If you think you may want to use the workflow again later, but you don't want users with Design or Full Control permission to be able to associate it to a list or library, you can deactivate the workflow solution as a feature in the site collection. Deactivating the workflow site feature will terminate any running instances of the workflow and the workflow cannot be associated to a list or library.

You must be a Site Collection Administrator to perform these procedures.

1. First, delete the workflow's association to all lists and libraries. See the instructions above for details.
2. In the top level site of the site collection, go to Site Actions > Site Settings.
3. In the Site Collection Administration section, click Site collection features.
4. Locate the workflow in the feature list and click Deactivate.
5. Click Deactivate this feature to confirm the action.

Retract and remove the workflow solution from the Web application

If you are certain the workflow solution will no longer be used anywhere, you can completely remove it from the Web application. This will terminate any running instances of the workflow. The workflow will no longer be available as a feature in the site collection and it cannot be associated to any list or library.

You must a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group to perform these procedures.

1. First, delete the workflow's association to all lists and libraries. See the instructions above for details.
   
2. Workflow Conductor 1.5.1 and higher for SharePoint 2010: In the Central Administration Web application, go to the Workflow Conductor section and click Workflow Solution Management.
   Workflow Conductor 1.0/1.1: In the Central Administration Web application, go to the Operations tab and click Solution Management in the Global Configuration section.
3. Locate the workflow in the solution list and click its name to view the Solution Properties.
4. In the Solution Properties page, click Retract Solution.
5. Select a time to retract the solution, and then click OK. The Solution Management page will refresh.
6. Locate the workflow in the solution list again. Verify its Status has updated to Not Deployed (you may need to refresh the page). Click the solution name to return to the Solution Properties page.
7. In the Solution Properties page, click Remove Solution.
8. Confirm that you want to remove the solution. The Solution Management page will refresh and the workflow will no longer be listed.