Should I keep draft versions of a document or only the final approved version?

The short answer is: it depends on whether a draft has independent value as a record. Many drafts can be discarded once a final version is approved, but some must be kept because of what they document, what they were used for, or what a law, policy, or legal hold requires.

Start With the Record, Not the File

In records management, the question is not “draft versus final” but “is this a record I am required to keep, and for how long?” A record is information created or received in the course of business that has evidential or informational value. Most often, the final approved version is the official record, and earlier drafts are transitory working materials that can be deleted once the final is complete.

When Drafts Should Be Kept

Keep drafts when they have value beyond the final document. Common situations include:

• Decision history. Tracked changes, comments, or marked-up drafts may show how and why a decision was reached.
• Legal hold or pending litigation. Once a hold is in place, you must preserve all relevant materials, including drafts, until released.
• Open requests. Records responsive to a FOIA, public-records, or similar request must be retained while the request is active.
• Required by schedule or policy. Some retention schedules specifically call out working papers or successive versions.

When in doubt, retain until you can confirm the draft has no continuing value.

When the Final Version Is Enough

If drafts are purely interim steps with no separate evidential value, you generally do not need to keep them once the final is approved and the official version is captured. Retaining endless versions creates storage cost, search noise, and added risk in discovery. Disposing of true non-records is good practice, as long as no hold or open request applies.

Build It Into Policy

Decide this consistently, not document by document. A version-control and retention policy should define which version is the record of record, when drafts may be deleted, and how holds suspend routine disposal. Apply the same rules to electronic and paper materials alike.

For more foundational guidance, see the fundamentals topic hub.