Report deactivation

[FotinaG]

Hi Guys,

I got lots of reports which were not run for some time, to improve platform i wanted to deactivate them, I dont want to delete because it may happen that users will need them again later. Could yo uplease help me to understand if deactivation makes sense, will this improve platform performance, or reports should be deleted?

Also I wonder why i cannot deactivate few reports in Global scope even if I elavated roles as security admin? It shows "Security prevents writing to this field".

Thank you i nadvance and wish you a good day!

[Me Being Mustaq · Accepted solution]

Hi @FotinaG ,

Yes, deactivating unused reports is a sensible and safe approach to improve platform performance without risking data loss. However, reports in the Global scope may be protected by stricter ACLs, which can block edits even for security admins.

Why Deactivation Makes Sense

• Preserves report definitions: Deactivation avoids permanent deletion, allowing users to request reactivation later without rebuilding reports.
• Improves performance indirectly: While reports themselves don’t consume resources unless run, deactivating unused ones:
• Reduces clutter in the UI and report lists.
• Prevents accidental execution of outdated logic.
• Minimizes load on scheduled jobs or dashboards referencing them.
• Supports auditability: You retain metadata like last run time, owner, and usage history for future analysis.

You can identify stale reports using the Report Statistics table (report_stats) and filter by the Last Run date. Many admins use scheduled jobs to flag or deactivate reports not run in the past 6–12 months.

Why You Can’t Deactivate Some Global Scope Reports

The error "Security prevents writing to this field" typically means:

• Field-level ACLs are blocking updates to the active field on the sys_report table.
• Global scope reports may be created by the system or other applications, and are protected from modification to ensure stability.
• Elevated roles like security_admin allow ACL editing, but do not override scope protections or read-only fields defined in the application.

To work around this:

1. Check ACLs on the sys_report.active field and see if Global scope restrictions apply.
2. Try cloning the report into your application scope and deactivating the clone.
3. Use visibility settings: If deactivation fails, change the report’s visibility to “Me” or restrict access via roles to hide it from others.

You may find below thread helpful:

• How can we deactivate reports - ServiceNow Community
• Solved: Re: Disabling old reports - ServiceNow Community

If it is helpful, please hit the thumbs button please mark the answer as correct based on the impact!!

Kind Regards,

Shaik Mohammed Mustaq

[FotinaG]

Thank you for detailed answer!

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@FotinaG 

please share screenshots.

are you in correct scope while deactivating those?

how are you deactivating those?

[FotinaG]

Hello Ankur, thank you for reply, ues, i was careful with scope and cheked it few times 🙂 I guess it is ACL issue, will check it per above.

Thank you!