The data room lifecycle: Preparation, Published, Locked
What you can change, what buyers see and what is billed in each of the three data room states, how you move from one to the next, and what can never be undone.
Every data room moves through three states, always in the same order: Preparation, Published, Locked. Each step forward takes something away, and neither can be undone. This page is the one place that lists, row by row, what each state allows, so you can check before you publish or lock rather than discover a restriction when you need to change something.
Read this as text
A data room is in one of three states, in this order. Preparation: you build freely, adding, moving, renaming and deleting; index numbers follow the structure; no external user sees anything; the room is not billed. Published: you can still add and move, and you retract instead of deleting; index numbers stay stable; every retraction and move is logged; external groups see the folders they were granted; the room runs on the Standard or Premium tier. Locked: nothing can change; external users keep reading what they had; the room runs on the cheaper Archive tier. Publishing happens in Project Settings › Deal Portal, locking requires typing the project name, and neither step can be reversed. While Published, the Deal Portal can be disabled and enabled again; buyers lose or regain access, but the room stays Published.
Where you see the state
- On Files › Dataroom, the state chip at the top right shows Preparation, Published or Locked, with the next action beside it: Publish, then Lock.
- Under Project Settings › Deal Portal, the Data room status tile shows the same state, next to the portal's own status: Draft, Enabled or Disabled.
- The project's Billing tab shows the subscription that goes with the state.
The state chip and the next action sit above the folder list.
What each state allows
| Preparation | Published | Locked | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add files to the Dataroom | ✓ | ✓ They appear for every group with access to that folder. | – |
| Add folders and placeholders | ✓ | ✓ They take the next free number; existing numbers never shift. | – |
| Move files and placeholders | ✓ | ✓ Recorded as Moved in the audit trail. | – |
| Rename in the Dataroom | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Take a file out of the Dataroom | Delete, with no trace | Retract: the placement is removed, the document stays in the Workspace, and the retraction is logged. | – |
| Permanently delete the document | ✓ | Refused while it is still placed. After every placement is retracted, only where your organisation allows deleting retracted documents; otherwise it stays in the Workspace. | – Also for documents retracted before the lock. |
| Upload a new version of a placed file | ✓ | ✓ It keeps its place and number. | – |
| Index numbers | Follow the structure and close up as you change it. | Stable. Removed items leave a gap. Recreate index numbers still works but changes numbers buyers may already quote. | Frozen |
| Place with AI and Scan Workspace | ✓ | ✓ Into the existing folders and placeholders. | – |
| What external users see | Nothing | The folders their group holds a role on, once the group's External access is on. | The same, frozen. |
| Invitation emails | Queued | Sent at publication, then immediately for new buyers in active groups. | As when Published |
| Published VDR audit trail | – | Records every retraction and move, with who and when. A document deleted afterwards keeps its row, marked Source permanently deleted. | Kept, read-only |
| Export index | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Billing | Not billed | A room subscription is required: Pay now, or a payment request with a 7-day grace period. | Archive tier. An unpaid subscription blocks locking. |
The state belongs to the Dataroom alone. Your team's AI assistant conversations and questionnaires are not affected by it, and Analytics keeps recording buyer activity for as long as buyers can enter.
Preparation: files can still be added, moved, updated or removed freely.
Preparation → Published
Selecting Publish on the Dataroom view takes you to Project Settings › Deal Portal, because publishing the data room and opening the portal are one step. The chip next to the portal state tells you whether you are ready:
Select the chip to see what still blocks publishing. Each line links to where you fix it.
Blockers stop publishing until they are fixed; in the words the chip uses:
- Add NDA text or a PDF, or turn off the NDA requirement. The NDA gate is on but has no content.
- Save your portal changes before publishing. You edited identity or appearance settings and have not saved.
Two more lines are warnings, not blockers: you can publish before any buyer is set up, and invitations go out once a group is activated.
- Activate access for at least one external group before publishing. No group has external access switched on yet. See Invite buyers to a data room.
- Grant an active external group access to at least one document before publishing. The active group has no folder role yet, so its buyers would see an empty room.
If the room needs a subscription, the publish step asks how it is paid first; see Credits and billing. When the chip reads Ready to publish, select Publish data room. The confirmation lists every external user who will be emailed and states what happens: the data room moves to Published, external access is turned on, and the invitations go out.
All requirements met. Publish data room is now enabled.
Disabling the portal is not going back
The portal is enabled and the data room status reads Published.
The Disable portal toggle closes the Deal Portal: external users lose access immediately and see that the portal was archived. Enable portal opens it again and emails only buyers who were never invited. Neither changes the data room's state; the room stays Published, with its stable numbers and audit trail.
Published → Locked
Lock appears on the state chip only once the room is Published, and anyone who can edit the Dataroom can use it. The dialog asks you to type the project name. If the room has its own subscription it switches to the Archive tier in the same step; an outstanding payment has to be settled first. From then on every change is refused with The VDR is locked and cannot be changed.
Published. Lock is the final, irreversible step.
Lock when the review is over and the index has to become the record. Take the exports first: Close and archive a data room walks through the order, and Lock the data room covers the dialog itself.
If something goes wrong
Add a file or placeholder, or move one; both work on a published room. To take a file out, Retract it; the document stays in the Workspace. Whether you can then delete it permanently depends on your organisation: by default a document that has been published stays protected even after retraction. What you cannot do is make the removal invisible: the audit trail keeps the retraction.
The message says why:
- Retract this file from all published VDR placements before permanently deleting it. The document is still placed in the published Dataroom, perhaps in more than one place, or it was moved there. Retract every placement, then delete it. If the message stays after every placement is retracted, your organisation keeps published documents protected; the document remains in the Workspace, and support can help if it must be removed.
- This document belongs to a locked VDR and cannot be permanently deleted. Documents that were ever in a room that is now locked stay protected, even if retracted earlier.
- For a folder, the message names how many documents in it are still protected. Retract their placements first; documents in a locked room remain protected.
Either the room is not yet Published, you cannot edit the Dataroom, or the room's subscription has an outstanding payment. Settle it on the Billing tab, then lock.
There is no way back to Preparation. Disable the portal to close it for buyers while you finish, then enable it again.
Availability and limitations
- Publishing and creating external groups are restricted to project owners; locking needs edit rights on the Dataroom.
- Each project has one data room and one state. The state applies to the whole index, not to individual folders or files.
- A published room created before the current numbering scheme asks you to run Recreate index numbers once before new files can be placed; you see a preview of the new numbers first.
Next actions
- Invite buyers to a data room covers external groups, folder access and the invitation emails.
- Prepare and share a data room walks the whole sequence on the Cardiolytix demo deal.