Is there a way to archive spaces/sites and have it NOT show up in a search?

[Tammy_Rowan]

We need to clean out old spaces for teams and people that are no longer here.  We want to be able to remove them from a search to make it easier to find what we are really looking for.

[Seon Shakespeare]

Hey @Tammy_Rowan 

Welcome to the community!

Sure, you should be able to achieve this by archiving the old spaces

The effect of archiving a space

If a space is archived, that space and its contents:

• Won't appear in the Confluence search results unless you select Search archived spaces. This option is hidden if there are no archived spaces.
• Won't appear on any dropdown menus, including the Confluence quick navigation, which drops down when you enter text in the search box.
• Won't appear in the general spaces lists in the Space Directory, but will instead appear under the Archived Spaces list. It will, however, still appear under any categories it was labeled with.
• Won't show up in activity streams when updated.

How To archive a space in Confluence Cloud:

1. Click on the space name in the sidebar and choose the cog icon
    to open the overview
2. Choose Edit space details
3. Select Archived in the Status dropdown menu
4. Hit Save

Here's a link to the Atlassian guidance for more information: https://confluence.atlassian.com/confcloud/archive-a-space-724764817.html

Hope this helps!