How to Archive Amazon Orders in 2023 (A Step-by-Step Guide for Sellers)
As an Amazon seller, keeping your order history organized is critical for running an efficient business. With hundreds of orders coming in daily, your account can quickly become cluttered with customer purchases, returns, refunds and more.
Fortunately, Amazon provides an archiving option to remove orders from your main history while still preserving them in your account.
In this comprehensive 2800+ word guide, I‘ll cover everything sellers need to know about archiving orders in Amazon Seller Central, best practices, expert tips and more. Whether you sell retail arbitrage, private label, wholesale or FBA, this guide will help you master archiving for a streamlined order management system.
Let‘s start with an overview of why archiving benefits high-volume sellers:
Why Archive Orders as an Amazon Seller?
Here are some key reasons sellers should actively archive orders:
- Increase efficiency – Reduce time wasted digging through obsolete orders and focus on recent sales.
- Improve account hygiene – Keep your account organized as your order volume grows over time.
- Free up working memory – Offload old orders you no longer need immediate access to.
- Enhance reporting – Run reports on specific time periods by archiving other periods.
- Separate order types – Archive B2B wholesale orders separately from retail.
- Hide info – Archive orders with pricing/supplier data you want to keep private.
- Optimize limits – Strategically manage your 500 order archive maximum.
In 2021, over 5 billion Amazon orders were placed worldwide. As a high-volume seller, archiving is essential to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
How to Archive Orders in Seller Central Desktop
The process for archiving orders in Amazon Seller Central is simple. Just log in to your Seller Central account and:
- Click "Orders" in the top menu bar:
Check the box next to the order(s) you want to archive
Select "Actions" > "Archive selected orders":
- Confirm archiving on the popup message
Once archived, orders are removed from your main Orders page and added to Archived Orders.
Tips for Archiving in Seller Central:
You can archive multiple orders at once by checking boxes.
Orders must have a final status like Shipped before you can archive them.
Use filtering by date or SKU to isolate orders to archive.
Archiving Amazon Orders on Mobile
The Seller Central mobile app does not currently support archiving as of 2023. But you can still archive on mobile using the browser version:
Open your mobile browser and go to sellercentral.amazon.com
Tap the account icon ≡ and enable desktop mode
Log into your Seller Central account
Tap the Orders icon and select an order
Choose "Archive order"
It‘s slower than desktop, but lets you archive on the go when needed. I recommend archiving bulk orders from a computer though.
Viewing Archived Seller Central Orders
Once orders are archived, you can view them by:
On Desktop:
Click into Orders
Select "Archived orders" from the dropdown filter menu
Set date range if needed to view specific periods
On Mobile:
Navigate to sellercentral.amazon.com in your mobile browser
Enable desktop mode
Go to Orders
Select "Archived orders" from the filter menu
This brings up your full archived order history in Seller Central.
Unarchiving Amazon Seller Orders
If you need to access an archived order again:
On Desktop:
View your Archived Orders
Check the order(s) you want to unarchive
Choose "Unarchive Order"
On Mobile:
View Archived Orders
Tap the 3 dots next to an order
Select "Unarchive order"
With millions of orders, you‘ll inevitably need to unarchive for order management.
Seller Central Order Archiving Limits
Amazon imposes some key limits on archiving orders in Seller Central:
Maximum of 500 orders can be archived at once.
You cannot permanently delete orders – only archive/unarchive.
No archiving on mobile app, browser only.
Orders must have a completed status before archiving.
As a seller, you‘ll need to be strategic about which 500 orders you keep archived to maximize this limit.
When Should Sellers Archive Amazon Orders?
As a general best practice, I recommend sellers archive orders:
Older than 3 months – Archive any orders no longer needing immediate access.
By product type – Archive seasonal products separately from evergreen ones.
Wholesale vs retail – Archive B2B wholesale orders separately from consumer orders.
Promotions – Archive orders from special promo periods after they end.
Returns/refunds – Archive these orders once issues are fully resolved and fulfilled.
Big sales days – Archive orders from Prime Day, Black Friday, etc. after they pass.
High volume periods – Archive massive waves of orders all at once when a period ends.
Be selective about what you archive and keep your current active order period accessible.
Archiving Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common archiving mistakes sellers make:
Archiving orders too frequently, creating excess unarchiving work.
Archiving orders while still actively resolving issues/refunds.
Archiving all orders without strategy, losing access to potential insights.
Failing to archive older orders, cluttering your active orders.
Not archiving wholesale/B2B orders separately, mixing order types.
Removing Items From Amazon Order History
While you cannot delete order history, you can sometimes remove individual items:
Go to “Browsing History” under “Account Settings”
Find the item you want to remove
Select “Remove” or clear your full history
This removes the item from view but does not delete the order. You can also archive the full order.
Using Reports to Optimize Order Archiving
As a seller, you can leverage order reports to make data-driven archiving decisions:
Date range reports – Run reports on specific periods to identify timeframes to mass archive.
SKU reports – See which SKUs have declining sales to archive those old orders.
Return reports – Archive periods with high return rates after addressing issues.
Conversion reports – Archive periods with low conversion rates after analysis.
Promotion reports – Archive orders from promotion periods once complete.
Here is a sample table showing how you could track archiving metrics by period:
| Period | Order Volume | Archived Orders | Archive Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Mar 2022 | 1,856 | 567 | 30% |
| April – June 2022 | 2,153 | 753 | 35% |
| July – Sep 2022 | 1,492 | 362 | 24% |
Analyze your orders, returns and sales to make data-driven decisions about what periods you should mass archive.
Archiving vs. Seller Order Management Tools
While Amazon archiving provides basic functionality, specialized order management tools give sellers more advanced control:
Multiorders
Automatically syncs orders from 30+ marketplaces
Create custom filters and tags for orders
Automate order processing with workflows
Integrates with major ecommerce platforms
ScaleMonk
Automatically segments and tags orders with AI
Customizable rules to filter order types
Charts and graphs for order analysis
Real-time order tracking across sites
Ecomdash
Unify orders from all sales channels
Custom categories to organize orders
Automate order updates, status changes
Built-in support for reconciling orders
Third-party tools let you further customize and control order workflows across multiple sales channels.
When Should Sellers Unarchive Amazon Orders?
To avoid endless unarchiving, only unarchive orders when absolutely necessary:
Resolve customer issues – Access order details to address problems.
Reproduce errors – Unarchive orders related to defects needing investigation.
Tax purposes – Unarchive orders from past years for tax season.
Re-order supplies – Check old purchase receipts to reorder inventory.
Refund eligibility checks – Verify dates on older returns.
Warranty issues – Access order info for customers with warranty claims.
Ideally archive knowing you likely won‘t need the order again. Strategic unarchiving preserves efficiency gains.
Best Practices for Pro Sellers to Manage Order Archives
To maximize the benefits of archiving orders, sellers should:
Archive methodically – Follow a schedule and metrics for archiving. Don‘t let it lapse.
Document strategy – Write down criteria for which orders you‘re archiving and why.
Separate sales channels – FBA, wholesale, B2B, etc. should have distinct archives.
Use tools – Platforms like Multiorders give more advanced control than Amazon native archiving.
Limit unarchiving – Only unarchive with good cause, don‘t nullify your archive efforts.
Analyze data – Use reports to align archiving periods with sales trends.
Review periodically – Audit which orders are archived to catch issues.
Disciplined order management and archiving helps sellers scale efficiently.
Frequently Asked Archiving Questions
Let‘s wrap up with some common seller questions:
How many orders can I archive in Seller Central?
Amazon allows sellers to archive up to 500 orders in Seller Central. Once you hit the limit, you‘ll need to unarchive some orders to archive new ones.
Can I archive orders on the Seller Central mobile app?
Unfortunately the Seller Central app does not currently support archiving orders as of 2023. You need to use the desktop browser version.
What order status do orders need to archive?
Amazon orders must have a final completed status like Shipped or Delivered before you can archive them in Seller Central.
What happens when I archive an order as a seller?
Archiving removes the order from your main Orders view in Seller Central but keeps it saved in your Archived Orders list. The order details are still preserved.
Can I permanently delete archived orders?
No, Amazon does not let sellers completely delete orders from their history. You can only archive and unarchive orders.
Should I archive all old orders?
Not necessarily – have a strategy for which orders you archive based on sales metrics, order types, promotions, etc. Don‘t blindly archive everything.
How often should I archive orders?
I recommend sellers archive orders at least monthly, if not more frequently. Archive older periods aggressively so your current orders stay clean.
So in summary, archiving keeps your Amazon seller account organized as your sales grow. Follow this guide and my expert advice to run an efficient, streamlined selling operation. Let me know in the comments if you have any other archiving questions!
