Soft deletion in Laravel Eloquent marks records as deleted rather than actually removed by adding the deleted_at column. 1. Use the SoftDeletes feature and introduce it in the model; 2. The database table needs to contain the deleted_at column, which is usually added by the migration file using $table->softDeletes(); 3. Only the deleted_at timestamp is set when calling the delete() method; 4. The default query does not contain soft delete records, but can be obtained through withTrashed() or onlyTrashed(); 5. Use forceDelete() to completely delete soft delete records; 6. Restore soft delete records through the restore() method, supporting batch recovery. This mechanism allows data recovery without affecting normal query results.

Soft deletes in Laravel Eloquent are a way to "delete" records from the database without actually removing them. Instead of permanently deleting a row, Laravel marks it as deleted by setting a deleted_at timestamp column. This allows you to restore the record later or filter it out from regular queries.

How Soft Deletes Work

When you enable soft deletes on a model, Laravel automatically modifies all query operations to exclude any records where deleted_at is not null. This means that unless you explicitly ask for soft-deleted records, they won't show up in your results.

To use soft deletes:

• Add the SoftDeletes trait to your model.
• Make sure your database table has a deleted_at column (usually created using $table->softDeletes(); in migrations).

Once set up, calling delete() on a model instance won't remove it from the database — it will just set the deleted_at field to the current timestamp.

Enabling Soft Deletes in a Model

To enable soft deletes for a model, follow these steps:

1. Import and use the SoftDeletes trait:

    use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes;

2. Add the trait inside your model:

    class User extends Model
   {
       use SoftDeletes;
   }

3. Update the corresponding migration file to include the deleted_at column:

    $table->softDeletes();

This setup ensures that when you delete a record, it's only marked as deleted, not removed.

Note: If you're modifying an existing table, make sure to create a new migration to add the deleted_at column.

Querying Soft Deleted Records

By default, Eloquent hides soft-deleted records. But sometimes, you may want to retrieve them:

• Use withTrashed() to include soft-deleted records in your query:

   User::withTrashed()->find(1);

• Use onlyTrashed() to get only the soft-deleted ones:

   User::onlyTrashed()->get();

These methods are useful when you need to display or restore previously deleted data.

If you want to completely remove a soft-deleted record from the database, use forceDelete() :

 $user = User::onlyTrashed()->find(1);
$user->forceDelete();

Restoring Soft Deleted Records

You can bring back a soft-deleted record by calling the restore() method:

 $user = User::onlyTrashed()->find(1);
$user->restore();

This clears the deleted_at value and makes the record visible again in normal queries.

Restoring multiple records at once? No problem:

 User::onlyTrashed()->where(&#39;created_at&#39;, &#39;<&#39;, &#39;2024-01-01&#39;)->restore();

Just remember, restoring doesn't affect relationships by default. You'll have to handle those manually if needed.

Basically that's it.

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