How to Archive a Finished Medication in the Oveluni App

A medication course has ended, or your doctor has told you not to take it anymore. So what happens to the plan in the app? If you delete it, months of records may go with it; if you leave it, a dose that no longer applies keeps showing up every day. Oveluni offers a third way: archiving. This guide shows, step by step, how to archive a medication, how archiving differs from deleting, and where to find its history afterwards.

What does archiving mean?

In Oveluni, every medication has a status: Active or Archived. Active medications appear in the day's plan. A medication you archive leaves the active list, but its plans and usage history stay in place.

The app explains this on the medication's page: "Archiving keeps plans and history. Deleting can also remove linked declarations only when you explicitly choose that scope." In short, the archive is not a trash can but a shelf: the medication is moved out of sight, but its information isn't lost. It's like crossing out an old line on a paper medication list and keeping the page: the line is no longer valid, but it's still there.

If you haven't set up a medication plan yet, take a look at the guide to setting up your first medication plan in 3 steps first.

Step by step: archiving a medication

It takes less than a minute and has four steps:

1. Open the Medications list. On the Profile tab, tap the Medications row. You can also reach the same list from the Medications shortcut on the Today tab.
2. Choose the medication. In the Active section, tap the medication you want to archive. Its page shows its name, times, Current plan and Declaration history.
3. Tap Archive medication. It's at the bottom of the page, above Delete medication.
4. Check the list. The medication is no longer in the Active section; it now appears in the Archived section.

If the medication's last days include unmarked doses, completing them as I took it or I skipped it makes its history easier to read. We explain how in the guide to logging medication doses.

A quick check before archiving is worthwhile:

• Make sure the medication has really ended; check the end date or duration your doctor gave you in your notes.
• If the same medication has more than one time, remember they all go to the archive together; what gets archived is the medication itself, not a single time.
• Ask your pharmacist what to do with any boxes left at home; that's a separate matter from the record in the app.

Archive or delete?

The two options sit one under the other on the same page, but their results are very different.

• Archive medication: The medication leaves the active list. Your plans and usage records are kept.
• Delete medication: The medication's plans are deleted. The app stops you once here: "If it has declarations, deletion stops; you can archive it instead."
• Deleting along with the history: If you turn on the "Include this medication's entire usage history in the deletion" switch in the delete window, plans, versions and all usage records are deleted. This step only happens when you explicitly choose it.

You can think of the difference like this: archiving says "I'm not using this medication anymore, but I want to remember the period I did." Deleting says "let this record be as if it never existed." In most cases, what you're after is the first.

A practical rule: if you really took the medication, archive it; if you're cleaning up a record you added by mistake or never took, delete it. Before deleting along with the history, think once about whether there's information you might want to show your doctor later.

When does archiving make sense?

The archive is for medications that no longer have a place in your daily plan but whose history you want to keep. Typical cases:

• The usage period set by your doctor is complete.
• Your doctor replaced the medication with another one and had you stop the old one.
• The period of a medication or supplement you took only for a certain time is over.

Archiving has a benefit that shows up later. When you see a new doctor, "which medications have you taken before?" is a common question. The names of archived medications and the periods you took them let you answer from your records rather than from memory.

There's an important distinction here: archiving is a record-keeping action, not a medical decision. Your doctor decides whether you stop taking a medication. MedlinePlus's list of questions for patients points at the same thing: don't stop your medications without telling your doctor. Feeling better, or being bothered by the medication, is not a reason to archive it in the app, but a reason to talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

If the medication hasn't ended and only its time or schedule has changed, don't archive it; use the Edit details & plan option on the medication's page instead. It creates a new plan version valid from the date you choose, and your earlier usage records are kept.

Where do you find an archived medication's history?

You can open an archived medication from two places:

• Medications list: Tap the medication's name in the Archived section and its page opens; the Declaration history is there with dates and times.
• Records tab: The Medications card in the Your archive section takes you to your medications, along with the number of plans.

When reading the history, keep the app's sentence in mind: "A missing entry means no record, not that a medication was not taken." Empty days are not a judgment, only a sign that nothing was noted that day.

A few questions you can ask yourself while looking back help you prepare for the next appointment: How long did I take this medication? On which days was I able to keep a record? Was there an observation I noted during that period? Interpreting the answers is your doctor's job; your part is to bring the information in an organized way.

Keeping only the medications you actually take active also simplifies your day's plan. If you follow reminders on your wrist, the 5 Apple Watch settings article may help too. For the parts of Oveluni beyond medication tracking, see the Features page.

Oveluni is coming soon to the App Store. Oveluni organizes personal records; it doesn't diagnose, recommend medications or doses, or choose or change your treatment.

Sources

1. MedlinePlus: Taking medicines - what to ask your provider