How to delete withdrawn submissions from the database

I noticed that the withdrawn papers are still in the database.
How can I remove them for good?

I want to delete or update a Submission Type / Conference Track, but I get a warning message that submissions already exist,
although I have withdrawn all papers.
Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
How should I proceed?

(A German version of this article is available.)

Please note that there is a difference between withdrawing a paper and removing it from the ConfTool database for good.
Withdrawn papers are still kept in the database and can be "undeleted", e.g. if a withdrawal had been done accidentally.

In order to remove withdrawn papers from the system for good you will have to use the purge function.

Please log in as administrative user and go to:
Overview => Manage Submissions and Reviews => Purge Deleted Papers

All withdrawn submissions will be removed from the system.
This operation cannot be undone!

If you just need to know how to delete single uploads without withdrawing the submission as a whole, please see this entry:
How to remove uploaded files

The function is hidden after the test phase, as there is usually no reason to purge withdrawn submissions.

If for some reason you have to use this function during the submission phase, you can enter this path directly into the address bar of the browser and add this code to the URI:
"...index.php?page=adminPapersPurge"

An example of the complete URI looks like this:
"http:// www. conftool. net /yourconference/index.php?page=adminPapersPurge"