Custom Destroy Button with Metadata Retention in M-Files Web

In general you would use the UIX to create the button and handle the click.  There are some things that could be done via a VAF (e.g. checking whether the user should see the button), but if you can avoid VAF then it reduces deployment complexity.

You say that the document content should be deleted; you mean the file removed?

We need to remove the file itself, but retain the metadata of the document.

Is there a way to achieve this by creating a button either using VAF or through configuration? Additionally, how can we use UIX to create such a button?

You would have to build a UI application to create the button, and possibly a VAF application if you need some server-side logic.  The UI application, at least, is fairly difficult work.  It needs specialist development skills.  It is not simply configuration.

You can find some samples to get going at the UIX documentation, listed from the Developer Portal (https://developer.m-files.com).  If you need additional assistance then you might want to reach out to your partner team to see what options are available to you.

If you want to avoid UI development, a workflow could be a viable alternative for triggering the archiving. In this approach, a records manager moves the document to a specific workflow state, which then invokes the VAF application.