Practice

Scan, keep or destroy: the right choice per document

10 July 2026 · 12 min read · DeSnipperaar

When clearing out an archive, the same question returns for every document. Do you scan it, keep it on paper or may it go? The answer differs per document type. Some documents you must keep as paper originals, others you can scan and then destroy, and a large pile can go straight to confidential destruction. In this article you find a clear decision tree and a decision table per document type.

Want to know quickly where you stand? Run through these questions for each pile in front of you.

• Is this document legally required as a paper original?
• Do you still need it within a running retention period?
• Is a digital scan enough for your purpose?
• Does it carry personal or confidential data?
• Has the retention period already passed?

With these questions you place each document in one of three piles: scan, keep or destroy. Below we work out that choice per document type.

What does scan, keep or destroy mean?

The three choices each solve a different problem. Scanning gives you the content back digitally, so you no longer have to keep the paper. Keeping means the paper original stays, because the law or the evidential value asks for it. Destroying is for documents you no longer need and that, due to personal data, may not simply go in with the recycling. The art is to choose the right one of these three per document. Keeping too much costs space and risk, throwing away too much can cost you a required original. Whoever makes the choice per document instead of per box ends up with an archive that is correct. You keep exactly what you must, digitise what is handy and safely destroy what may go.

Four possible outcomes per document

In practice every document ends up at one of four outcomes. Scan and then destroy, for documents where a digital copy is enough. Keep the paper original, for the exceptions the law or evidential value requires. Destroy straight away, for documents past their retention period. And simply keep, for paper still within a running period. The first question is therefore not whether you want to digitise, but into which of these four groups a document belongs. That decides the rest by itself.

The decision tree: four questions per document

A simple decision tree helps you sort quickly. Take a document and ask these questions in turn.

• Must the original stay on paper? If yes, you keep it and the decision tree stops here.
• Is a retention period still running? If yes, keep it or scan it and keep the scan until the period has passed.
• Has the period passed and do you no longer need it? Then it may go to the destroy pile.
• Do you want the content without the paper? Then you scan it first and the original goes into destruction afterwards.

Whoever applies these four questions consistently ends up with three neat piles. An overview of the periods themselves is in the retention periods cheatsheet.

Decision table per document type

The following table translates the decision tree into concrete document types with the recommended action.

Document type	Recommended action	Note
Notarial deeds, purchase deed, mortgage documents	Keep original	Evidential value is in the paper
Share certificates	Keep original	Physical copy required
Contracts with a wet-ink signature	Keep original	When the signed copy counts
Diplomas and official certificates	Keep original	Often only the original is valid
Tax and accounting records within 7 years	Scan, keep paper until period ends	Tax retention still running
Invoices, receipts, bank statements	Scan and destroy	Digital copy usually enough
Quotes, correspondence, old reports	Scan and destroy	Keep only what you still need
Expired policies, old payslips past the period	Destroy straight away	Contain personal data
Documents past the retention period	Destroy straight away	Do not keep longer than needed
Marketing and duplicate copies without data	Destroy or recycling	No data, then recycling

Which originals must you keep on paper?

The smallest but most important pile are the originals you may not scan-and-discard. Notarial deeds, such as a transfer deed or mortgage deed, draw their force from the original document. Share certificates often require the physical copy. Contracts where the signed copy with a wet-ink signature carries the evidential value you likewise keep as originals. Diplomas and certain official certificates are accepted by authorities only in the original. If in doubt, treat the document as an original and keep it. A wrongly destroyed original is rarely recoverable.

Which documents can you scan and then destroy?

By far the largest pile are the administrative documents where a good scan is enough. Invoices, receipts, bank statements, quotes, correspondence and old reports you can scan and then have destroyed confidentially. The content stays available digitally, the paper disappears safely. So you gain space and reduce the risk of personal data lying around. It is important, though, that you first check the scan before the original goes into destruction. The order of digitising and only then destroying is in the overview of data destruction.

Which documents may you destroy straight away?

Some documents you do not even have to scan. What is past its retention period and has no further value may go directly to the destroy pile. Think of expired policies, old payslips past the period, outdated client files and copies where you already have the original digitally. The only point of attention is that many of these documents contain personal data. That is why they do not belong in the recycling, but in a confidential destruction with a certificate. So you meet storage limitation and at the same time keep proof in hand that the data is gone.

Which documents do you simply keep on paper?

Not everything has to be scanned or destroyed straight away. Documents still within a running retention period you simply keep until that period has passed. A scanned copy is allowed alongside, but for tax records it is wise to keep the original available until the period ends. So you avoid throwing away a document too early. When you may clear out which category is in the pillar on clearing out old paperwork, with a checklist for throwing away or keeping.

First check the retention period

The decision tree stands or falls with the retention period. For most accounting and tax records a tax retention obligation of seven years applies, and for some real estate documents even longer. Only once that period has passed does a document move from the keep pile to the destroy pile. So first check the period per category before you throw anything away. How the seven-year period works exactly and which documents fall under it is in the 7-year tax retention obligation.

What to watch when scanning

A scan is only usable if it is complete and legible. Scan double-sided where needed, check that nothing is missing and store the files in order with a recognisable name and date. Make a backup, because a digital archive without a copy is just as vulnerable as a paper pile. For the exceptions from the previous section, a scan does not replace the original. For ordinary administration a good scan is enough. Only when you are sure the scan is correct does the paper original go into destruction.

The destroy pile: how confidential destruction works

The documents that may go, you do not throw in with the recycling. Paper with personal data should be destroyed confidentially. That works simply. You collect the destroy pile in boxes or a roll container, hand it over at a collection and the contents are shredded to the right level. You get a fixed price up front and a certificate afterwards. Within 20 km of Amsterdam we collect sealed, with no call-out fee. There is no walk-in and no call-out beyond the service area, the service works on a pickup basis with nationwide pooling of collections.

Choosing the right DIN level

How finely it is shredded is set by the DIN 66399 standard. You choose the level on the sensitivity of the data.

Level	Particle size	Suitable for
P-2	Strips	General print without data
P-4	Small particles	Documents with personal data
P-5	Very small particles	ID numbers, medical and special data

For most office documents P-4 is enough. For ID numbers, medical or other special data you choose P-5. The level applied is stated on the certificate.

The certificate of destruction as proof

For the destroy pile you receive a certificate of destruction. It states the date, the quantity and the DIN level, for data carriers supplemented with serial numbers. That certificate is your proof that the data is irreversibly gone. Keep it in your administration, so at an inspection or a question from a client you can show that the clearing-out was done neatly. What exactly belongs on such a document is in the certificate of destruction explained.

Sealed collection within 20 km of Amsterdam

The collection itself is part of the care. The paper is taken away sealed, so the chain from collection to destruction stays closed and there is no moment where a file can go missing. We work within a radius of 20 km around Amsterdam on a pickup basis, with no call-out fee and no walk-in. Collections are pooled nationwide, which makes a fixed price possible beyond the region too through joint collection rounds. An open bin standing on the street for days does not offer that certainty, a sealed collection does. So the pile stays protected until the moment the data is shredded beyond legibility.

A real-world example

Imagine an accounting firm clearing out a cabinet of client files. The employee goes through the folders with the decision tree in hand. The signed engagement letters with a wet-ink signature go on the keep pile, because the signed copy counts. The annual accounts and tax returns of the past seven years are scanned, but the paper stays until the period ends. Invoices, receipts and correspondence from clients who left years ago are scanned and then placed on the destroy pile. Files whose retention period is well past go straight to destruction. At the end three boxes stand ready for a sealed collection and the firm keeps an orderly digital archive. The certificate from the collection goes into the GDPR file, so at an inspection it is immediately clear that the clearing-out was done demonstrably.

Practical tips

• Sort per document type, not per folder. So you avoid an original disappearing among ordinary administration.
• Keep a separate box for the originals that must stay on paper.
• Check every scan before the paper goes into destruction.
• Keep the certificate digitally in a fixed place with your administration.

Common mistakes

• Scanning and discarding an original. For notarial deeds and share certificates a scan does not replace the original.
• Destroying too early. First check whether the retention period has really passed.
• The destroy pile in the recycling. Paper with personal data should be destroyed confidentially, not in the recycling bin.
• Scanning without a backup. A digital archive without a copy is as vulnerable as a single pile.

Through your pile in four steps

1. Sort per document type with the decision tree and the table above.
2. Set aside the originals that must stay on paper.
3. Scan what you want to keep digitally and check the scan.
4. Hand the destroy pile over sealed and keep the certificate.

Frequently asked questions

Should I scan or keep documents?

Scan documents where a digital copy is enough and keep the paper original only when the law or evidential value requires it, such as for notarial deeds and share certificates.

Which documents must I keep as originals on paper?

Notarial deeds, share certificates, certain diplomas and official certificates and contracts where the wet-ink copy counts are kept as paper originals.

May I scan a document and then destroy it?

Yes, for most administrative documents such as invoices, receipts and bank statements a good scan is enough. The paper original can then be destroyed confidentially.

How do I clear the destroy pile safely?

You hand the pile over sealed at a collection, have it shredded to the right DIN level and receive a certificate of destruction as proof.

Which documents may I destroy straight away?

Documents past their retention period that have no further value, such as expired policies and old payslips, you may have destroyed straight away.

Conclusion

Scan, keep or destroy is not a question for the whole box at once, but a choice per document. A small pile of originals stays on paper, a large pile of administration you can scan and then have destroyed, and what is past its period may go straight away. Use the decision tree and the table to sort, check the retention period each time and hand the destroy pile over sealed. So you keep only what you must, gain space and, with a certificate, have proof that the rest was cleared out safely.

See also the pillar on clearing out old paperwork and the three related articles: going paperless securely, digitising your archive then destroying it and the archive clean-up step by step.

---

Ready to clear your destroy pile? Request a quote via desnipperaar.nl. You get a fixed price, we collect sealed within 20 km of Amsterdam and you receive a certificate as proof.