> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.tapfiliate.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to Delete, Change Conversions and Customers > This comprehensive guide provides instructions on how to delete or modify the unique IDs for individual conversions and customers within an affiliate marketing account. November 9, 2026 1. **[Why we recommend Disapproving over Deleting](#h_bcb95de6af)** 2. **[Understanding why we separated Customers vs. Conversions](#h_cdb588e0be)** 3. **[What Happens if a Conversion or Customer is Deleted](#h_4854a50134)** 4. **[Practical Use Cases for Changing IDs](#h_4f7070f5f2)** 5. **[The Guide: How to Delete or Change IDs](#h_8f89558d78)** 6. **[FAQ](#h_e66f137c17)** 7. **[Next Steps](#h_922c5d7704)** *** ## Why we recommend Disapproving over Deleting The platform **does not recommend the deletion of actual conversions**. It is always better to **disapprove** them instead. We have designed the system this way for several critical reasons: * **Irreversibility:** Once a conversion is deleted, it is removed permanently and cannot be recovered or restored. * **Transparency:** Affiliates cannot see deleted conversions in their portals. By **disapproving** a conversion instead of deleting it, you maintain a transparent record for your affiliates, showing them exactly why a commission was not awarded (e.g., due to a refund or cancellation). * Data Integrity: Keeping a record of disapproved conversions helps in long-term reporting and prevents confusion regarding missing transaction IDs. Deletion should be reserved primarily for removing test conversions that were tracked during your initial setup. *** ## Understanding why we separated Customers vs. Conversions We separated the concepts of "[Customers](https://app.tapfiliate.com/a/customers/)" and "[Conversions](https://app.tapfiliate.com/a/conversions/)" to provide a more sophisticated tracking environment. For many businesses, a referral is not just a single event but the start of a long-term relationship. ### Why track Customers separately? Tracking customer IDs enriches the affiliate marketing experience and provides deeper insights into your program's health: * **Life-cycle Tracking:** It allows you to evaluate if a lead or trial user successfully converted into a paying customer over time. * **Recurring Revenue:** You can quickly check if an affiliate is eligible for additional commissions in the future, such as in recurring payment models. * **Accountability:** You can see if a specific account is actively earning affiliate commissions at any given time. * **Data Mapping:** It provides a clear way to verify which specific Conversions or External IDs are tied to one unique Customer. * **Control:** Tracking customers enables you to create **caps on commissions** per customer, ensuring your program remains profitable. ### Customers vs. Conversions Defined For many businesses, tracking the person (Customer) separately from the purchase/action (Conversion) is essential. | Feature | Customers (People) | Conversions (Actions) | | - | - | - | | **Represents** | **People** that signed up for a service (e.g., trial user, lead form filler). | **Actions** for which you want to award a commission (e.g., one-off purchase, monthly subscription payment). | | **Status** | A person who has been referred but **has not yet completed an action** you wish to reward an affiliate for. | An event that **triggers a commission** for the referring affiliate. | It is possible to **track both simultaneously**. For example, if customers make immediate purchases, the system can record both the new Customer and the initial Conversion simultaneously. ![](https://mintcdn.com/tapfiliate-help/1iW9-M7MOhKRwS9v/images/3026869/01-chrome-k5n37z5e7j.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1iW9-M7MOhKRwS9v\&q=85\&s=43fdc12a3a4e29b3a7c1cc95c51f8edf) *** ## What Happens if a Conversion or Customer is Deleted Deleting a conversion or a customer has **permanent, irreversible impacts** on your records and affiliate payouts. ##### Impact of Deleting a Conversion * **Affiliate Balance Adjustment:** If the deleted conversion had commissions that were **already paid out** to the affiliate, the [affiliate's balance will be **set back**](https://support.tapfiliate.com/core-program-functions/handling-affiliate-payouts/how-to-handle-refunds-and-voiding-commissions.md) (reduced) by the paid-out commission amount. ##### Impact of Deleting a Customer * **Customer Release (Recurring Programs):** In the context of a Lifetime or Recurring commissions program, deleting the customer effectively **releases the customer's identity** from the platform. * **New Affiliation Opportunity:** Because the customer no longer exists in the platform's records, a **different affiliate could refer them back** to you in the future and earn commissions for any subsequent conversions they drive. All association with the original affiliate is permanently removed. *** ## Practical Use Cases for Changing IDs Sometimes you don't need to delete a record; you just need to fix the data. Here are 3 common scenarios: * **Case 1: Correcting Manual Errors.** If you manually imported data and made a typo in an External ID (e.g., ORD-123 instead of ORDER-123), you can simply edit it in the details panel to match your CRM. * **Case 2: Platform Migration (Merging Data).** If you move from one payment processor to another (e.g., Stripe to PayPal) and a user's internal ID changes, you can update the Customer ID in Tapfiliate so future renewals continue to track correctly. * **Case 3: Resolving Tracking Conflicts.** If two systems generated the same ID by mistake, you can modify the ID in Tapfiliate to ensure each record remains unique without losing the affiliate's history. *** ## The Guide: How to Delete or Change IDs ### A. Deleting a Conversion or Customer (Recap) * **Deleting a Conversion:** Go to your **[Conversions page](https://app.tapfiliate.com/a/conversions/)**, click the conversion, open the **three dots** menu in the right panel, and select **Delete conversion**. * **Note:** If commissions were already paid, the affiliate's balance will be **set back** by that amount.