> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.graphext.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delete a variable

Deleting a variable can sometimes be useful, although you might consider [hiding it](/documentation/data-preparation/variable-management-ui-config/hide-variable) instead
in case some important or sensitive information is at play.

## Ways to delete a variable

### Deleting a variable from the Data Table

To delete a column from the Data Table, simply click on the options menu
next to the desired column's name and click "Remove Variable".

<Frame>
  <img
    src="https://mintcdn.com/graphext/McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d/images/variable-management/remove-variable-data-table.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d&q=85&s=2946fd0bf19f4ab096bc6ff4a432b815"
    alt="Delete variable data
table"
    width="2136"
    height="1850"
    data-path="images/variable-management/remove-variable-data-table.webp"
  />
</Frame>

### Deleting a variable from either sidebar

You can also delete a variable by accessing the menu in the top right
corner of the variable's cards in either sidebar.

<Frame>
  <img
    src="https://mintcdn.com/graphext/McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d/images/variable-management/remove-variable-sidebar.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d&q=85&s=69bf4c02e0089392d8dbd0738c3d2302"
    alt="Delete variable data
table"
    width="1706"
    height="1689"
    data-path="images/variable-management/remove-variable-sidebar.webp"
  />
</Frame>

### Deleting a variable from the Variable Manager

You can also delete a variable from the Variable Manager, by accessing
the menu in the top right corner of the variable's card.

<Frame>
  <img
    src="https://mintcdn.com/graphext/McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d/images/variable-management/remove-variable-manager.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d&q=85&s=ea2d4bb0289b6d0d16fd28217c1610e8"
    alt="Delete variable variable
manager"
    width="1973"
    height="1665"
    data-path="images/variable-management/remove-variable-manager.webp"
  />
</Frame>

## Implications of deleting a variable

Deleting a variable means to completely remove it from the dataset, effectively "creating" a
new version of the dataset without it.

Upon clicking on "Remove Variable", a warning message will pop up, prompting you to confirm
whether you are sure to perform the deletion of the variable.

This message will also display all the columns that may depend on the variable you are deleting.
These variables would be deleted too.

<Frame caption="Warning showing how the variable Year Born would be deleted if deleting Age. This column does not exist in the initial dataset, but was calculated using the derive_column step by subtracting the age value to the current year.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/graphext/McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d/images/variable-management/deletion-warning.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d&q=85&s=06e8a4daaa4a9dd0e18bc0f5cba8afa9" alt="Deletion Warning" width="2332" height="1260" data-path="images/variable-management/deletion-warning.webp" />
</Frame>

### Undoing deletions

If you deleted a variable by mistake, you can reach to the undo button in the top right corner of the interface
to undo that operation.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/graphext/McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d/images/variable-management/undo-operation.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=McO4MTYPhEdyoC4d&q=85&s=3c47e3c0785aeabbe9be6c6c2ab08224" alt="Undoing deletion" width="1118" height="436" data-path="images/variable-management/undo-operation.webp" />
</Frame>

<Warning>
  Undoing the operation will only be possible right after deleting. If you reload the page or come to a new
  session, it will no longer be possible to recover the data.

  If all these things happened and you need to recover information, [reach out to the team](mailto:support@graphext.com) for help.
</Warning>
