diff --git a/packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts b/packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts
index 2a082d421..a7bef6f5c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts
@@ -316,16 +316,30 @@ export const schema = {
 			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE',
 		},
 		pruneDataMaxAge: {
-			doc: 'How old (hours) the finished execution data has to be to get deleted',
+			doc: 'How old (hours) the finished execution data has to be to get soft-deleted',
 			format: Number,
 			default: 336,
 			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE',
 		},
-		pruneDataInterval: {
-			doc: 'How often (minutes) execution data should be hard-deleted',
+		pruneDataHardDeleteBuffer: {
+			doc: 'How old (hours) the finished execution data has to be to get hard-deleted. By default, this buffer excludes recent executions as the user may need them while building a workflow.',
 			format: Number,
-			default: 15,
-			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_INTERVAL',
+			default: 1,
+			env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_HARD_DELETE_BUFFER',
+		},
+		pruneDataIntervals: {
+			hardDelete: {
+				doc: 'How often (minutes) execution data should be hard-deleted',
+				format: Number,
+				default: 15,
+				env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_HARD_DELETE_INTERVAL',
+			},
+			softDelete: {
+				doc: 'How often (minutes) execution data should be soft-deleted',
+				format: Number,
+				default: 60,
+				env: 'EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_SOFT_DELETE_INTERVAL',
+			},
 		},
 
 		// Additional pruning option to delete executions if total count exceeds the configured max.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/databases/repositories/execution.repository.ts b/packages/cli/src/databases/repositories/execution.repository.ts
index dc09433f2..4fa541f30 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/databases/repositories/execution.repository.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/databases/repositories/execution.repository.ts
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 	};
 
 	private rates: Record<string, number> = {
-		softDeletion: 1 * TIME.HOUR,
-		hardDeletion: config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataInterval') * TIME.MINUTE,
+		softDeletion: config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataIntervals.softDelete') * TIME.MINUTE,
+		hardDeletion: config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataIntervals.hardDelete') * TIME.MINUTE,
 	};
 
 	private isMainInstance = config.get('generic.instanceType') === 'main';
@@ -523,9 +523,8 @@ export class ExecutionRepository extends Repository<ExecutionEntity> {
 	 * Permanently delete all soft-deleted executions and their binary data, in batches.
 	 */
 	private async hardDelete() {
-		// Find ids of all executions that were deleted over an hour ago
 		const date = new Date();
-		date.setHours(date.getHours() - 1);
+		date.setHours(date.getHours() - config.getEnv('executions.pruneDataHardDeleteBuffer'));
 
 		const workflowIdsAndExecutionIds = (
 			await this.find({