How to delete or edit sensitive comments in ServiceNow recordsIssue <!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } When comments or work notes contain sensitive information in ServiceNow records, you may need to edit or delete them from journal entries, audit records, and email entries to maintain data privacy. This process requires administrator privileges and cannot be performed by regular users. Release<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } All supported releases Resolution<!-- /*NS Branding Styles*/ --> .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #000000; } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: black; } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: #00718F; } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: #024F69; } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: #032D42; } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: #00718f; } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Prerequisites Required permissions: Administrator access or a role with elevated privileges to modify system tablesIf you are a regular user who needs to remove a comment, you must contact your ServiceNow administrator with the record details Warning: Viewing the entire sys_audit table may retrieve a large number of records and can seriously affect instance performance during the query. Get the record's sys_id Right-click on the record and select Copy URL to Clipboard to obtain the unique sys_id.Copy the sys_id from the URL. For example, in https://<instance>.service-now.com/nav_to.do?uri=incident.do?sys_id=85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8, the sys_id is 85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8. Update the journal entry Navigate to the journal entry using one of these methods: Enter the URL with your sys_id: https://<instance>.service-now.com/sys_journal_field_list.do?sysparm_query=element_id=85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8Or navigate to System Definition > Tables > Journal Field and search for your record's sys_id Locate the journal entry containing the sensitive information.Modify the record and select update or delete. Update the audit entry Navigate to the audit entry using one of these methods: Enter the URL with your sys_id: https://<instance>.service-now.com/sys_audit_list.do?sysparm_query=documentkey=85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8Or navigate to System Definition > Tables > Audit and search for your record's sys_id Locate the audit entry containing the sensitive information.Modify the record and select update or delete. Rebuild the history set This is only required when you do not use direct auditing and the System Property glide.sys.activity_using_audit_direct is set to false (default value if the System Property does not exist on the instance). Navigate to the History Set records using one of these methods: Enter the URL with your sys_id: https://<instance>.service-now.com/sys_history_set_list.do?sysparm_query=id=85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8Or navigate to System Definition > Tables > History Set and search for your record's sys_id Select the Delete button for each History Set. This deletes the History Set, not the audit data.The History Set will be rebuilt with the corrected audit and journal information when a user views the item. Update the email entry Navigate to the email entry using one of these methods: Enter the URL with your sys_id: https://<instance>.service-now.com/sys_email_list.do?sysparm_query=instance=85befb1c4a34bb12013b216a9fd5fee8Or navigate to System Definition > Tables > Email and search for your record's sys_id Locate the email entry containing the sensitive information.Modify the record and select update or delete. Update the email history Navigate to the email history line entries using one of these methods: Enter the URL: /history.do?sysparm_table=sys_email&sysparm_sys_id=[email sys_id]&sysparm_nostack=trueOr navigate to System Definition > Tables > History Line and search for entries related to your email record Locate the history line entries containing sensitive information.Delete or modify these entries to remove the sensitive information. Troubleshooting Cannot find the journal entry Verify you are using the correct sys_idCheck if the comment was added to a different field than expectedEnsure you have the necessary permissions to view the sys_journal_field table Cannot modify or delete entries Verify you have administrator privileges or the appropriate roleContact your system administrator if you need assistance FAQ Why can't regular users edit their own comments? ServiceNow restricts this capability to administrators to maintain data integrity and audit compliance. While users can see the need to edit their own comments, allowing this would require careful implementation of audit logging to track all changes. How can regular users request comment deletion? If you've added a comment in error, contact your ServiceNow administrator with: The record numberThe specific comment that needs to be removedThe reason for removal Important notes If history rebuilding is not possible on a record, the reference is likely broken.When modifying a comment, don't delete the old one. Instead, make modifications in both the sys_journal_field and sys_audit tables against the same record.After modifications, rebuild the sys_history_set to load the updated comment in the record. 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