Every volume (owner, folder, and file) in an archive is logically independent. Deleting a volume (owner, folder, or file) won't delete any other item in the archive, no matter how similar, and no matter how much data they may have in common.
Feel free to delete obsolete volumes that are no longer being captured. It won't affect any items captured for the volume that exists now.
Starting with QRecall 1.2.0(46) you now have a second option, one created specifically to address this situation. The new
Archive > Combine Items... command will take two (or more) volumes in an archive, that are actually the same volume, captured at different times, and will stitch them back together into a single volume with one history in the archive.
See the
release notes for 1.2.0(46) for the details.