When rooms, zones or sensors change on a live floor, the action you take in Studio decides what happens to your occupancy history. This guide shows which action to pick, what it does to your data, and how to do it step by step.
For facility managers, workplace admins and Butlr installers.
Which action should I take?
| Situation | Action | What happens to your data |
|---|---|---|
| A room or zone is no longer used | Archive it | History is kept and viewable. The space leaves floor totals, counts, the Live floor page and alerts. |
| You're redrawing a floor and want one continuous history | Edit the existing rooms and zones | The same room keeps its data. |
| You're redrawing a floor and want old and new kept separate | Create new spaces, move sensors, then archive the old ones | Old spaces keep their history. New spaces start their own. |
| Sensors are being replaced in the same room | Swap the sensors. Don't archive. | The room shows “Not monitored” for the gap, then its data continues. |
| A sensor moves to another room, zone or floor | Move the sensor | The old room keeps the history it recorded. |
| A sensor is out of service but may come back | Archive the sensor | Hidden in Studio and left out of sensor health counts. It stays assigned to its room. If it's still powered, its data still counts toward its room and zones. |
| A sensor is gone for good | Delete the sensor | Removed from its room and zones. Their history is kept. The sensor no longer appears in Studio. |
| A room or zone was a mistake and has no history worth keeping | Delete it | Its history no longer appears. This can't be undone. Alert rules that use it aren't updated. |
| You're adding a new room or zone | Create it | Room: “Not monitored” until sensors are assigned. Zone: live as soon as you save it where a sensor's view covers it. |
Before you start
- Permissions. Only org owners and admins see Archive and can delete spaces.
- Save first. Archiving is checked against the saved layout. Save any unsaved changes on the floor before you archive.
- Allow time. After you save, changes can take up to 10 minutes to apply everywhere.
- Zones don't take sensor assignments. A zone automatically uses every sensor whose field of view overlaps it. Studio works this out again each time you save. See What’s the Difference Between a Zone and a Room in Butlr?
Scenario 1
Retire a room or zone you no longer use
When to use it: after a re-layout, or when a space closes.
What happens to data
The space keeps its recorded history on its Historical tab. It's left out of floor totals, room and zone counts, the Live floor page and alerts. Alert rules are kept. Search still finds it.
Steps
- In Studio, open the floor.
- Clear the space of sensors, then save. For a room, move or unassign its sensors. For a zone, move any sensor whose field of view overlaps it.
- Select the room or zone.
- Select Archive.
- Select Save.
To archive several at once: multi-select the spaces, open Bulk actions, then select Archive (n) and Save.
Check afterwards
- The space sits in a collapsed Archived (n) group in the sidebar.
- On the canvas it's striped and labelled “· Archived”. Use Show/hide → Archived Spaces to hide archived spaces.
- Its Historical tab shows the history it recorded.
Changed your mind? Select the space, then Unarchive and Save. It's fully restored.
Scenario 2
Re-lay out a floor
First, decide how you want the history to read.
One continuous history
Edit the existing rooms and zones: reshape, rename or resize them. The same room keeps its data.
Old and new kept separate
Create new spaces (for example, “Lobby_V2”), move the sensors, then archive the old spaces.
What happens to data (separate layouts)
Old spaces keep their history up to the last full day before their sensors were removed. New spaces start their own history once sensors are assigned.
Steps (separate layouts)
- In Studio, draw the new rooms and zones. Save.
- Move each sensor into its new room or zone. Save.
- Multi-select the old spaces, open Bulk actions, select Archive (n), then Save.
Old zones: a zone can't be archived while any sensor's view still overlaps it. If your new zones cover the same area as the old ones, contact Butlr Support before you start.
Check afterwards
- No old space still has sensors. If Archive is disabled, its tooltip names the spaces that still do.
- Each new space shows live data.
- Each old space's Historical tab shows its history.
Scenario 3
Replace or upgrade sensors in the same room
When to use it: old sensors come down and new ones go up later in the same room.
Don't archive the room. It's the same room, so its history should carry on.
What happens to data
While the room has no sensors, it shows “Not monitored”, with history up to the day before removal. When a sensor is assigned again, the room is live again and data continues in the same room. There's nothing to archive or relink.
Steps
- In Studio, remove the old sensors from the room. Save.
- Install the new sensors and assign them to the same room. Save.
Check afterwards
- The room's Live tab shows live occupancy again.
- Its Historical tab shows old and new data in the same room.
Scenario 4
Move a sensor to another room, zone or floor
What happens to data
The old room keeps the history it recorded. If the moved sensor was the room's last one, the room shows “Not monitored” and its “sensors removed” date starts.
Steps
- In Studio, open the floor and select the sensor.
- To move it on the same floor, drag it into the new room or zone.
- To move it to another floor, right-click it and select Move to Floor.
- Select Save.
Check afterwards
- The sensor's panel shows its new room.
- Retiring the old room? Archive it now (scenario 1).
Scenario 5
Decommission a sensor: archive or delete
| Topic | Archive | Delete |
|---|---|---|
| Use when | The sensor may come back | The sensor is gone for good |
| In Studio | Hidden by default, and left out of sensor health counts | Removed permanently |
| Room and zones | Stays assigned, and still counts as their sensor | Taken out of its room and zones |
| History its spaces recorded | Kept | Kept |
| Its data | If it's still powered and connected, it keeps sending data, and that data still counts toward its room and zones. Archive a sensor once it's taken down. | No longer shown in Studio, including Archived Devices |
| Its settings | Settings Butlr made for this sensor alone are cleared. Unarchiving doesn't restore them. | Removed with the sensor |
| Undo | Unarchive at any time | Can't undo. The device can be added again later. |
Steps
- In Studio, select the sensor.
- Select Archive or Delete. Archive sensors one at a time.
- Select Save.
To see archived sensors on the canvas, use Show/hide → Archived Devices.
Good to know
- An archived sensor still blocks archiving its room or zone. Move or unassign it first.
- Deleting a virtual sensor only removes the virtual copy. The source sensor isn't changed.
- A source sensor with clones or mirrors can't be deleted until those are removed.
- Removing a room's last sensor makes the room “Not monitored”.
Scenario 6
Delete a room or zone
Archive is usually better. Deleting is permanent and can't be undone once saved. Archive keeps the history.
What happens to data
- Room: the room is removed and its occupancy history no longer appears in the dashboard. Its sensors and the zones inside it are kept, but unassigned.
- Zone: the zone is removed and its history no longer appears. Its sensors are kept, but leave the zone.
Steps
- In Studio, select the room or zone.
- Read the tooltip on Delete. It explains what will be lost.
- Select Delete, then Save.
Check afterwards: reassign any sensors and zones that were left unassigned. Alert rules that used the space aren't changed. In Alerts, it shows as “(deleted space)”.
Scenario 7
Create a new room or zone
What to expect
Room: until sensors are assigned, the room shows “Not monitored” on its Live tab and has no history yet. Only add rooms that will have sensors.
Zone: when you save it, the zone uses any sensor whose field of view overlaps it, and shows live data. If no sensor's view overlaps it, it shows “Not monitored”.
Steps
- In Studio, draw the room or zone and name it.
- For a room, assign sensors to it. For a zone, draw it where sensors cover it.
- Select Save.
Check afterwards: once its sensors are assigned and saved, the space's Live tab shows live occupancy.
FAQ
Why can't I archive this room or zone?
It still has sensors attached. That includes third-party sensors, archived sensors, and sensors excluded from room counts. The tooltip on Archive names the blocking spaces. Move or unassign the sensors, save, then archive. For a zone, that means any sensor whose field of view overlaps it. Archive is also disabled while the floor has unsaved changes.
Why does my archived room's history end the day before?
History ends on the last full day before the sensors were removed (or before the space was archived). The removal day is only partly recorded, so it's left out. Days with zero occupancy still count as history.
What does “No sensors are assigned… Showing the history it recorded, up to {date}” mean?
For a zone, the notice reads “No sensor covers this zone…”. The space has no sensors now, but it still has history. Select Show the 30 days up to {date} to jump straight to it. Butlr records when a room's sensors were removed automatically. For zones, this is recorded from late October 2026 onward. Before that, a zone's end date comes from its archive date or its data, and may move forward daily until the zone is archived.
I can't see history older than about 6 months.
The automatic lookup covers about the last 6 months (177 days). Older history is still there. Pick the dates on the Historical page.
Does archiving a sensor stop it sending data?
No. Archiving hides the sensor in Studio and leaves it out of sensor health counts. If it's still powered and connected, its data still counts toward its room and zones. Archive a sensor once it's taken down. Archiving also clears settings Butlr made for that sensor alone. If you bring it back into service, ask Butlr Support to check its settings.
Can I still see a deleted sensor in Studio?
No. A deleted sensor no longer appears in Studio, including under Archived Devices. The occupancy history its rooms and zones recorded is kept.
Can I undo a delete?
No. Once saved, deleting a room, zone or sensor can't be undone. Archive instead if you might need the space or its history again.
Does the Butlr AI assistant know about archived spaces?
Yes. From Butlr MCP v0.7.0, archived spaces are marked and never read as live, and the assistant reports the same history end date as the dashboard.
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