# Merging Document Categories

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/documents-settings/merging-document-categories

> Merge duplicate document categories by moving all documents into the category you keep and archiving the old one.

Over time you can end up with duplicate Document Categories - for example, both "Med Management Plans" and "Medication Management Plans". Merging lets you tidy these up by combining two categories into one.

When you merge, every Document assigned to the duplicate category is moved into the category you keep, and the duplicate category is then archived.

## Before You Start

By default, only Admins can merge Document Categories.

> **Choose the category you want to keep first**
>
> The category you open the **Merge** action on is the one that will be **kept**. Inside the merge screen you then choose the *other* category to merge into it - that other category is the one that gets archived. Make sure you start from the category you want to keep.

## How to Merge Document Categories

### Open the Merge action

1. From the left-hand menu, select **Settings** (1) (under **Configure** when your menu is grouped into sections).
2. Select [**Documents**](https://app.astalty.com.au/settings/documents) (2).
3. Find the category you want to **keep**, and select the three-dot menu on its row (3).
4. Select **Merge** (4).

![The Document Categories settings page, opened from Settings (1) in the main menu and Documents (2) in the settings menu, with the duplicate Med Management Plans row and the Medication Management Plans row to keep highlighted, the three-dot menu on the kept category's row (3) and Merge in its menu (4).](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/document-categories-merge-summary.png)

### Choose the category to merge in

Open the **Category to merge** dropdown and select the duplicate category you want to merge into the one you're keeping. Each option shows how many Documents it holds, so you can confirm you've picked the right one.

![The Merge into Medication Management Plans drawer with the Category to merge drop-down highlighted and open below a Search field, each option showing its document count, and an arrow pointing to Med Management Plans (1 documents).](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/document-categories-merge-select-category.png)

### Review what will happen

Astalty shows a summary confirming how many Documents will be moved, which category they'll be merged into, and that the duplicate category will be archived. Once you're happy, select **Merge**.

![The Merge into Medication Management Plans drawer with Med Management Plans (1 documents) selected, a summary that 1 document from Med Management Plans will be merged into Medication Management Plans and Med Management Plans will be archived, and an arrow pointing to the highlighted Merge button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/document-categories-merge-result.png)

### Confirm the merge

A final confirmation appears. Select **Merge** to complete the process.

> **The old category is archived**
>
> After merging, the duplicate category is archived and removed from the active Document Categories list. The merge itself cannot be reversed automatically, so double-check you've selected the correct categories before confirming.

![The Confirm dialog asking whether to merge Med Management Plans (1 document) into Medication Management Plans and archive Med Management Plans, with the Merge button highlighted beside Cancel.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/document-categories-merge-menu.png)

## After merging

The Documents from the duplicate category are now counted under the category you kept, and the duplicate no longer appears in the list. In the example below, the Document from "Med Management Plans" has been moved into "Medication Management Plans", taking its total from 11 to 12 Documents.

![The Document Categories list after the merge, with the Medication Management Plans row highlighted and an arrow pointing to its Documents count of 12, and Med Management Plans no longer listed.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/document-categories-merge-confirm.png)