Is there a way to report on custom fields not being used in any reports?

[LeslieSc1]

We're in the process of cleaning up our system. I'm trying to create a report to show me custom fields in our system that aren't currently being reported on for a specific group. We want to get rid of fields that are no longer being used.

[skyehansen]

that's a pretty interesting statement.

There's definitely a way to report on which reports a custom field appears on (in a parameter report just pull in the Reports column). At the very least you can use this functionality, and export to a spreadsheet and sort or filter additionally by this column.

However, you should know that in other instances, just because we don't put a field ***on a report*** doesn't mean it's not being used. (as a very broad example, section breaks and descriptive text fields would fall into this category, but there are plenty of regular custom fields we choose not to report on)

[LeslieSc1]

Thank you Skye. I was able to get a parameter report to give me the info.

[LeslieSpier]

Hi Leslie,

There are some tips in this blog for cleanup - Tips to Tidy up Workfront. It outlines a method to check if fields are being used in other custom forms. That might be another method to help you with what you're trying to accomplish.

For what it's worth - if you have form fields that were maybe used in the past, but are not used currently, I like to add "Z - " at the beginning of the field name to drop it to the bottom of the list of form fields. That helps move it out of the way but keeps your historical data. If you delete a field with data, you'll lose the data with it. You may already know that, but it's important enough to mention here - especially if someone else finds this post down the road.

Best of luck with your clean up!

-Leslie