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Perform a root cause analysis > Perform a root cause analysis by using the 5Whys methodology

Delete a 5Why or a Why question

While performing your analysis, you might find a 5Why or a Why question that is not relevant to the Problem Solving process. In such a case, you can delete the 5Why or Why question from the Problem Solving process.

Procedure

  1. From Launcher, click Changes .

If this option is unavailable, search for it. You can pin it from the search results for future access.

  1. From the CHANGES folder, select and open the Problem Solving process that you want to edit.

  2. Click the Root Cause Analysis work mode.

  3. In the left pane of the Root Cause Analysis work mode, select and expand the required defect that contains the 5Why and Why questions to be deleted.

  4. To delete a Why question in the Methodology tab in the right pane, do the following:

Select the parent 5Why and click the Methodology tab in the right pane.

Select the Why question, and click Delete in the work area toolbar.

In the confirmation message, click Delete.

The existing Why questions are automatically rearranged. For example, if you have four Why questions and you delete the third Why question, the existing fourth Why question becomes the third Why question. Note The associated quality actions and attachments are also deleted. If you have linked a failure code from the failure catalog, the link is deleted.

  1. To delete a Why question in the Overview tab in the right pane, select the Why question, and do the following:

Choose More Commands > Edit  > Delete .

In the confirmation message, click Delete.

The existing Why questions are automatically rearranged. For example, if you have four Why questions and you delete the third Why question, the existing fourth Why question becomes the third Why question. Note The associated quality actions and attachments are also deleted. If you have linked a failure code from the failure catalog, the link is deleted.

  1. To delete a 5Why, select the 5Why, and do the following:

Choose More Commands > Edit  > Delete .

If you are in the Methodology tab in the right pane, click Delete in the work area toolbar. Note You cannot delete a 5Why if it has associated Why questions.

In the confirmation message, click Delete.

  1. Repeat the steps until you complete deleting the required 5Whys and their Why questions.

Source: https://docs.sw.siemens.com/en-US/doc/282219420/PL20251212545240207.problem_solving/xid1704421 · retrieved 2026-07-11