Delete pdfs from hard disk when paper is deleted from the library
If I delete a reference from my mendeley library using the desktop client, the folders & pdf on the hard drive remain. Surely if the reference has been deleted from the library then the pdf should be deleted from the hard disk library too?
richstanton
shared this idea
64 comments
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Joe Sapp
commented
Has this really been completed? Isn't working for me with Mendeley 1.8.4. (I right click and select "Delete Document", but the pdf is still in the mendeley folder afterwards).
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Simon Tyler
commented
Thanks Robert!
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AdminRobert Knight
(Admin, Mendeley)
commented
Archiving as mentioned in my previous comment has been implemented in Mendeley Desktop 1.0. See http://www.mendeley.com/release-notes/ for details.
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Carl Anderson
commented
I still think adopting the (relatively) familiar (to many) iTunes model makes sense. You should have the option to add entries to Mendeley with the linked files kept or left wherever you like, or should you have the option to let Mendeley reorganize your files according to the scheme you choose from within Mendeley (e.g. .../Mendeley Desktop/[Author - Year - Title].pdf, or whatever). Likewise, when you choose to "Delete" an entry, Mendeley should ask whether you just want to delete the entry and leave any associated files where they are, or whether you want to delete both the entry and any associated files. Since Mendeley also (potentially) stores a copy of your local files online, it should additionally ask whether you want to delete local or remote copies of files, or both (or neither). Implementation of such functionality would, I think, basically resolve the problem.
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Dominique
commented
If implemented, I hope there will be an option to turn this off. Some of us use several library management programs and surely, I don't want my file to go if I remove it from Mendeley!
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SMH
commented
This suggestion seems like a problem as long as duplicates are not correctly handled. If I'm deleting a duplicate entry, I don't want the file to go!
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Niels
commented
This feature now works great in the development preview. Thanks!
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Anjan
commented
HI Robert,
Would this also apply to multiple attachments within the same document? I mean - if a single Mendeley document had 2-3 attachments, and I remove one of the attachments on the Desktop client, but not the document, would the changes move the particular attachment to the Archive too?
This would also be very useful. -
Thiago Sanna F. Silva commented
Sounds like a very simple. elegant, and above all, safe solution to the problem. Looking forward to it.
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Robert Knight
commented
Hello.
Pending testing, this should be in the next major release. We want this to be as simple as possible and also minimize the risk of files being removed when users were not expecting this to happen - especially since this is a change from earlier versions of Mendeley. With that in mind, the current plan is for it to work as follows:
* When a document is removed from Mendeley, if the attached files are no longer linked to any documents in Mendeley and if they are in the file organizer folder, then they will be archived in <file organizer folder>/Archive. If an attached file is not in the file organizer folder then Mendeley will leave it alone.
* In the 'File Organizer' tab of the Preferences dialog, there will be facilities to:
1) Archive any files or folders which are in the file organizer folder but not in your Mendeley library.
2) Empty the 'Archive' folder if you are sure that you no longer want any of the files in there. -
Stuart Wimbush
commented
I'm also surprised to learn that this isn't the standard behaviour when 'organise my files' is selected.
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Stephen Fujiwara
commented
Please fix this!
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kim
commented
Totally agree with Brian Hole & Paul Chorley. This has my vote.
At first I couldn't figure out the difference between remove from collection and delete documents (got it now). -
Brian Hole
commented
I agree with this - my suggestion would be to add a preferences option so that the user is asked if they also want to delete the files when deleting from Mendeley.
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Paul Chorley
commented
Serously, this makes 'Organize my files' useless. I have to go through and manually delete any files I deemed unsuitable for my Mendeley Library.
This is such a basic feature!
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Julian
commented
I don´t have any votes left, otherwise I´ll put a couple here. I have now >3K records in my database, all of them linked to a pdf. It would be very useful if I could review my reference list, and with a single keystroke (or two) get rid of the database entry and the pdf file at the same time.
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Carl Anderson
commented
I continue having difficulty being sure whether or not PDFs have bee deleted from the online storage space as well .... or at all! The whole issue of what is or is not deleted, how, and from where, seems a little unclear ....
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Hannah
commented
Definitely an essential feature!! I also agree it should be optional to choose.
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Vincent Comor
commented
Plz add an option to be able to choose whether or not we want to delete only the citation in the library or both the citation and its related pdf file. Really looking forward to seeing this basic option implemented!
Thanks! -
sb
commented
I think this is a good idea and as stated it makes sense if I am selecting the checkbox that says "organize my files" then it should add and remove the files from my pdf folder. If i was going to organize my own files, then I understand that it should not necessarily delete these files from my computer. But like itunes, iphoto, or other "organizer" software's, they are supposed to take care of the down and dirty "back-end" of file management without me having to go there myself. Especially if I choose that option to "organize my files". And I agree, some people would probably want to have the option to turn this off as well.
