Change a case status to “Closed”: how it works and what it means

What does the "Closed" status mean?

A case is moved to "Closed" once the investigation is complete and no further communication with the reporting party or involved parties is needed.

At this point, external access is cut off, the reporting party and involved parties can no longer view their follow-up space and send messages. Case managers, however, can still work on the case internally.

"Closed" sits between "Processed" and "Archived". It is the status from which you can anonymise the case and then archive it.

👉 Not sure about the difference between "Processed", "Closed", and "Archived"? See this article.

How to close a case

Below is an interactive demo. Click "Start" to begin the walkthrough and follow the steps at your own pace.

Open the case and click "View".
Go to the "Processing" tab and scroll to the bottom.
If the case is set to "Processed", a "Close the case" button will appear.
Click it and confirm in the pop-up window.

The case is now Closed.

Two things to keep in mind:

A case must be in "Processed" status before it can be closed.
Only case managers with the right permissions can perform this action.

What changes once a case is closed?

No longer possible

Reverting to "Processed" status.
Access to the follow-up space for the reporting party and involved parties (including discussion channels). They receive an email notification on the matter if their address is known.
Sending messages to the reporting party or involved parties. Those discussion channels become read-only for case managers.

Still possible

Internal messaging between case managers. Existing discussion channels (with case managers only) stay open and new ones can be created.
Working on tasks.
Editing the processing module, depending on your organisation's settings, it may be locked (read-only) or remain editable.
Anonymising and archiving the case. Both options become available from this status.
Uploading anonymised or redacted documents to the "Archive folder".

"Closed" status
Revert to previous status ("processed")	❌
Reporting party / involved parties access	❌
Processing module	Read-only or editable (depends on organisation settings)
Messaging channels with reporting party / involved parties	❌ (read-only by case managers)
Messaging channels between case managers	✅
Tasks	✅
Managing case managers on the case	✅
Managing involved parties on the case	❌ (read-only)
Linked cases	✅
Archive folder	✅
Anonymisation option	✅
Archiving option	✅

Before anonymising

Anonymisation is available as soon as a case is closed, even if some features like tasks or the processing module are still in use. This means one case manager could anonymise content while another is still editing it.

Make sure nothing is actively being edited before you run anonymisation.