---
title: "Changing or deleting choices in a form that already has entries"
date: 2026-10-28
updated: 2026-10-28
author: "Rafael Bennemann"
link: "https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravityview/gravity-forms/changing-or-deleting-form-choices/"
category: "GravityView > Gravity Forms"
---

Gravity Forms saves the choice a person picked into each entry when the form is submitted. Editing a field's choices later leaves the saved entries as they are, but it changes which entries a View's filter matches, what the View shows and what Edit Entry saves. This applies to Radio Buttons, Checkboxes and Drop Down fields, and to Product and Option fields that use them.

## Changing the price of a product choice

Product fields set to Drop Down or Radio Buttons, and Option fields, save the choice's value followed by a vertical bar and its price at the time of the order. An entry for a **Senior** choice priced at $36 is saved as `Senior|36`. After you change the price to $28, new entries are saved as `Senior|28`, and the entries saved earlier keep `Senior|36`.

### Filter conditions that include the price

When you pick a product choice from the list in an [Advanced Filter](https://www.gravitykit.com/products/advanced-filter/) condition, the condition saves the choice with its price, such as `Senior|36`, even though the list shows only **Senior**. After a price change, the View keeps listing the older entries and leaves out every new one. In the View editor, the condition then shows the saved text with the old price.

![An Advanced Filter condition set to Age category contains Senior|36, with a Return to Field Choices link under the value](https://www.gravitykit.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/advanced-filter-product-choice-old-price.png)Changing `36` to `28` in the condition doesn't help: the View then lists the new entries and leaves out the older ones. To match the choice at any price, keep the label and the vertical bar and delete the price:

- Edit the View and click the **Filter & Sort** tab in the **Settings** box.
- In the condition, click the value. If it is still a list, choose **Custom Value** at the bottom of the list first.
- In the text box, enter the choice's label followed by a vertical bar and no price, such as `Senior|`.
- Click **Update**.

![The same condition with its value changed to Senior| and the value box outlined in red](https://www.gravitykit.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/advanced-filter-product-choice-label-and-bar.png)The vertical bar matters when one label contains another. The condition **contains** `Senior` also matches entries for a **Senior masters (35+)** choice, and `Senior|` doesn't. If you rename the choice, update the condition to the new label.

### Editing older entries after a price change

When Edit Entry shows a product field, saving the entry saves the product choice at its current price, and the entry's **Total** changes with it. For example, Edit Entry turns a saved `Senior|36` into `Senior|28`, even if nobody touched the field. Edit Entry leaves the product fields out of entries with payment details, such as a payment status or a transaction ID, so their prices stay as they are. [Editing Product and Pricing Fields in Edit Entry](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravityview/advanced/editing-product-and-pricing-fields/) describes this.

## Deleting a choice

Deleting a choice removes it from the form. Entries that saved it keep their value, and the View keeps showing it.

### Radio Buttons and Drop Down fields

When **Show Values** is on for the field, a choice has a label, such as **Guest of a member**, and a separate value, such as `guest`. A View shows the value unless the field's **What should be displayed** setting, under the field's gear icon in the View editor, is **Label of the input**.

![The settings of a Drop Down field in the View editor, with What should be displayed set to Label of the input and outlined in red](https://www.gravitykit.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/gravityview-field-what-should-be-displayed.png)
*With that setting, an entry that saved a deleted choice shows its value instead of its label. The label belongs to the choice, so it goes when the choice is deleted*

### Checkboxes

Gravity Forms numbers each checkbox choice by its position in the field: the first choice of field 5 is 5.1, the second 5.2, and so on. Deleting a choice moves every choice below it up one number, while entries keep their values under the old numbers. Adding a choice anywhere except at the end moves the choices below it the same way.

- The View still lists every saved value, including the deleted choice.
- Exports read the field's current numbers, so the values saved under the old last number are left out. [Checkbox values are missing from exports after a choice is deleted](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravityexport/checkbox-removed-choices-missing-from-exports/) explains which values and how to get them back.
- Anything that refers to a choice by its number, such as `{Sessions:5.2}` in a `[gvlogic]` shortcode, now points to a different choice.

Add new checkbox choices at the end of the list.

### Editing an entry after deleting a choice

Edit Entry shows the field's current choices only. In an entry that saved a deleted choice, nothing is selected in its place, and saving the entry clears that value. In a Checkboxes field, the choices that moved up a number aren't ticked either, so saving the entry clears them too, even though they still exist.

Before you edit such an entry, add the deleted choice back in its old position, then delete it again when you're done. A choice you want to keep in old entries is safer retired than deleted.

## Retiring a choice without deleting it

To stop new entries from using a Radio Buttons or Checkboxes choice while older entries keep it, leave the choice in the form and hide it with CSS. Edit Entry still shows the choice, so older entries keep their label and keep the value when they're saved.

Each choice on the page has a class such as `gchoice_7_4_2`: `gchoice`, then the form ID, the field ID and the choice's number, with `_` between them. Radio Buttons choices are numbered from 0 and Checkboxes choices from 1, so `gchoice_7_4_2` is the third choice of radio field 4 in form 7. To check a class, right-click the choice on the form and choose **Inspect**.

This CSS hides that choice on the form and keeps it in Edit Entry:

```
:not(.gv-edit-entry-wrapper) > .gform_wrapper .gchoice_7_4_2 {
    display: none;
}
```

Add it to your theme's CSS:

- In a block theme, go to **Appearance**, then **Editor**, and click **Styles**. Open the **More** menu (⋮) and choose **Additional CSS**. Paste the CSS and save the change.
- In a classic theme, go to **Appearance**, then **Customize**, and open **Additional CSS**. Paste the CSS and click **Publish**.

![Additional CSS in the Styles panel of the Site Editor, with the CSS from this section in the box outlined in red](https://www.gravitykit.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/site-editor-additional-css-hide-choice.png)
*The CSS only changes what the form shows. Someone who edits the page's code can still submit the hidden choice*