---
title: "Deleting expenses and managing deleted expenses"
slug: "deleting-expenses"
description: "Delete unpaid expenses before being reviewed in the Payhawk spend management platform: select the expense and remove it. Paid expenses can only be rejected."
updated: 2026-10-27T14:16:51Z
published: 2026-10-27T14:16:51Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/deleting-expenses"
---

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

# Deleting expenses and managing deleted expenses

To remove an expense, you can directly delete it from **Spend** in the Payhawk Web Portal.

> [!TIP]
> For accounting reasons, in Payhawk you can only delete unpaid expenses before they have been reviewed. Paid expenses can be [rejected](/help/approving-and-declining-expenses-from-the-expenses-app) and will remain under the **Review** tab in the system.

## Deleting expenses

To delete an expense:

1. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), go to **Spend**.
2. Select the desired expense by clicking on it.
3. Click on its three-dot menu and select the **Delete** option.
4. In the dialog that opens, mark the checkbox to confirm your choice.
5. Click on **Delete**.

![Payhawk Spend with a bill open in a side panel and a Delete dialog whose checkbox confirming the action cannot be undone is ticked.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/virtual-qa/2026-10-08-37748806624-1/deleting-expenses-01.png)

## Viewing deleted expenses

Payhawk Accountants and Payhawk Administrators can monitor deleted expenses in a read-only mode from the **Deleted** view in **Spend**. By default, the view excludes deleted card expenses, and you can show them when needed.

To view deleted expenses:

1. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), go to **Spend**.
2. In the left pane, select **Deleted**.
3. To also display the deleted card expenses, remove the filter for hiding card expenses.

![Payhawk Spend app showing the Deleted view with an empty list and a Nothing here message.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/virtual-qa/2026-10-08-37748806624-1/deleting-expenses-02.png)

## Viewing the history of deleted expenses

In the **Activity** section of a deleted expense, select **Changes** in the **Show** filter to see when the expense was marked as deleted as well as the full history of the expense before its deletion. For more information, see the article about [viewing expense activity](/help/viewing-expense-activity).

![The Activity section of a deleted expense with Changes selected in the Show filter, showing that its status changed from draft to deleted.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Navigation%20images%20Desi_20261015/Viewing_the_history_of_deleted_expenses_20261015_ai.png)

## Downloading documents from deleted expenses

In cases such as duplicated card transactions, you can download the documents that were uploaded to a deleted expense. To do so, open the deleted expense from the **Deleted** view and download the document from the activity log entry that contains it. For more information, see the article about [managing receipts and invoices in the portal](/help/managing-receipts-and-invoices-in-the-portal).

![Downloading a document from a deleted expense using the document viewer's download menu](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Navigation%20images%20Desi_20261015/Downloading_documents_from_deleted_expenses_20261015_ai.png)

## Useful resources

- [Approving and declining expenses](/help/approving-and-declining-expenses-from-the-expenses-app)
- [Saving and managing expense views](/help/saving-and-managing-expense-views)
- [Viewing expense activity](/help/viewing-expense-activity)