Demoting a published article takes one click from the article detail page. The article goes back to Draft, editing resumes, and you republish when the content is ready.
- Find the article in Knowledge
Open the Knowledge app and search for the article by title or by article number. Click into the article to open its detail page in the Published state.
- Open the article actions menu
In Lightning Knowledge, the action menu sits in the top right of the article detail page. Look for a dropdown labeled Article Actions or a button labeled Edit as Draft, depending on the org's layout.
- Click Edit as Draft (or Demote in Classic)
In Lightning, the action is labeled Edit as Draft. This creates a draft version and removes the published version from circulation. In Classic, the same action is labeled Demote.
- Confirm the demotion
The platform prompts for confirmation because the change is immediately visible to end users. Confirm to proceed.
- Edit the draft
The draft opens in the editor. Make your changes, save, and confirm the draft state looks right. The article is invisible to customers and agents while in draft.
- Republish when ready
From the draft, click Publish. The new version becomes the published one; the old published version moves to version history.
The standard action label in Lightning Knowledge. Creates a new draft version of a published article.
The same action in Classic Knowledge. Reverts the published article to draft.
Use Archive when the article should not come back. Moves to archived state and preserves history.
If you change your mind before republishing, you can delete the draft; the article reverts to its previously published state.
- Demote takes effect immediately. There is no scheduling, so plan around customer-facing implications before clicking. Pull articles during low-traffic windows when possible.
- Each language version is independent. Demoting the English article leaves the French, German, and Japanese translations published. Demote each language separately if you need a global takedown.
- If the article was approved through an approval process, the draft does not require re-approval automatically. Configure your approval process to fire on Knowledge state transitions if compliance demands it.
- Demote does not delete the article. If a customer has a tab open to the URL, refreshing produces a Knowledge 404, but a Google search result may persist until the next crawl.