Retiring a knowledge article removes it from end-user search results while keeping it accessible to admins and preserving its history. You'll have a clean way to handle outdated content without losing valuable documentation or breaking existing links.
Why retire instead of delete
Before article retirement, knowledge managers faced a bad choice: leave outdated articles live where users find wrong information, or delete them and lose institutional memory. Deleting breaks any bookmarks or links users saved, creates gaps in article numbering, and makes it impossible to see what guidance existed when incidents occurred. The people maintaining knowledge bases — content managers and subject matter experts — need a way to remove articles from public view without destroying the audit trail that compliance and troubleshooting require.
How article states control visibility
ServiceNow uses workflow states to control where articles appear. Published articles show in end-user searches and portals. Retired articles disappear from public search but remain visible to knowledge_admin users in the platform. Draft and Review states are for articles still being worked on. The key insight: retiring is a soft delete that preserves the record while changing its visibility scope. You can always republish a retired article if circumstances change — try doing that with a deleted record.
Managing retired content over time
Once you have articles retiring cleanly, the operational improvements worth adding are: regular audits of retired content to identify articles that can be updated and republished, tagging retired articles with retirement reasons for future reference, and setting up reports that show retirement patterns to spot content gaps. Well-managed knowledge bases use retirement as a content lifecycle tool, not just a way to hide mistakes.
Before you start
- •knowledge_admin role or knowledge_manager role
- •Access to the specific knowledge base containing the article
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Step by step
Navigate to the article record
Go to Knowledge > Articles > All and search for your article by number or title. You can also access it directly if you have the URL. Open the article record — you need the full record view, not just the published article display.
Use the article number in the search if you have it — it's faster than scrolling through titles.
Locate the workflow state section
Find the Workflow section on the article form, usually in the top portion. The current state shows as Published if the article is live. This section controls where the article appears and who can see it.
If you don't see workflow controls, check your role permissions — some knowledge base configurations restrict state changes.
Change state to Retired
Click the State dropdown and select Retired. Don't use Review or Draft — those states are for articles being worked on, not articles being removed from service. Retired is specifically designed for articles that were good once but are now outdated.
Add retirement documentation
In the Work notes field, document why you're retiring this article and when. Include what replaced it if applicable — this helps future admins understand the decision. Work notes stay with the record and don't appear to end users, making them perfect for operational context.
Update and verify the change
Click Update to save the state change. ServiceNow immediately removes the article from end-user search results and portal displays. Verify by searching for the article as an end user — it shouldn't appear. As an admin, you can still find it by searching All articles with the State filter set to Retired.
Best practices
Always document retirement reasons in Work notes — six months later you'll need to remember why you retired something and whether it can be updated instead of replaced.
Use Retired for outdated content, not content that needs fixing — articles under review should use the Review state and stay in the normal workflow.
Check for articles that link to the one you're retiring — ServiceNow doesn't automatically update cross-references when you change states.
Set up a periodic review of retired articles — some can be updated and republished rather than staying retired forever.
Don't retire articles during major incidents if they're being actively referenced — wait until the incident is resolved to avoid confusion.
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