File and image delete

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Here’s a problem. I can’t delete the file and image I uploaded. But I do not need this file no longer.

Describe the solution you’d like
I want a function to delete file and image I have uploaded from my device and back node.

Describe alternatives you’ve considered

Additional context

28 Likes

I really love Anytype but this is unfortunately the only deal-breaker for me. Functionality / UI can always be tolerated to an extent but anything security related needs to be prioritised.

I was trying to set up a dashboard to organise my personal finances / documents (figuring this was the ONLY tool secure enough to do so given decentralised storage/access). It took all of about 5 seconds to upload a tax document to quickly test it. I was then horrified to find out there was NO WAY to delete it! No undo, the bin doesn’t work, once you’ve put something on there you’ve lost control.

This is a major security liability. Sure I don’t doubt that no-one can get in without the passphrase and it’s encrypted everywhere. But what if someone does get hold of the passphrase? What if I eventually decide to leave Anytype? What if I decide something is a bit “too” sensitive and want to take it off the system? No choices, no accidents allowed and my stuff will stay there forever. This can’t be right.

EDIT: at the very, very least in the short term - is it possible to ask the Anytype team to completely “wipe” an account if it ever was compromised?

9 Likes

This will be fully resolved in the near future, but you can try Settings>Account & data>Clear file cache and letting your Anytype re-sync.

You can also do this yourself by navigating to Settings>Account & data>Delete account

4 Likes

Removing your entire account over a file seems a bit extreme don’t you think?

Deleting files should be a priority, not just for security reasons. How about file size reasons? Remove large files when needed, clean up your Anytype, etc.

Anything and everything should be delete-able in my opinion! Even standard relations/objects. You (anytype) always say that we should be in control of our information. This seems not true on this point.

But am I correct that file deleting and relation deleting are on the roadmap?

4 Likes

Certainly, that’s what I said in my previous comment and in the recent post about our upcoming release schedule. Deleting relations will be possible in V.030.0.

To be clear though, I was addressing two separate points, see the above referenced quotes: one was related to persistent files, and the other was in response to an inquiry about deleting the entire account if it were compromised.

Otherwise I entirely agree with you. It’s obvious un-deletable files is a huge nuisance and upsetting for many reasons… (for me as well). What I’ve suggested is a work-around, albeit fairly cumbersome, but it has worked for some people very concerned with deleting an antiquated file embedded in a block which was already removed from a page – If the file still persists, one can try caching their Anytype and it might achieve the result they’re after.
Again, not an ideal solution but it’s the only thing I can point to for now. To what extremes one is willing to go is a personal decision.

5 Likes

I appreciate the quick response and thanks for pointing out the account deletion option.

If I understand correctly, this just clears files from the current device and they remain on the backup node? This doesn’t address the security issue - we need to be able to delete a file from the entire network. Actually, just seeing something disappear from the screen but remain intact somewhere else would be my biggest fear in this regard.

Just to clarify - is specifically file deleting (everywhere on the network) part of the upcoming release schedule? I had a look at the posts and it seems to be just relations and types (ie. decluttering the type selection list), not the ability to actually delete instances of every type.

Even if not in the next release, is this something we will definitely see in the next 3-6 months? Thanks for the help

4 Likes

I am also very interested to know when will file deletion be available

1 Like

We want to introduce this in Q1 23

8 Likes

I realised that there is a workaround for this, not sure if it is intended.

  1. Put all your files that you want to delete into a temp folder.
  2. Drag the temp folder into Anytype.
  3. Delete the temp folder.

When you create a new folder object, it shifts the object to be part of the folder object instead. Unlike the File Objects, these objects can actually be deleted.

2 Likes

Thanks @devtk0, and welcome to the community!

Cool contribution :slight_smile:

I (and others in the community) have outlined some similar steps, of adding all the undeletable files to another object and then deleting that, but this is the first time I’ve seen the folder object used. I wonder if it works for deleting multiple files at once. If so, it’s a pretty simple and convenient work-around.

Good news is, deleting files should function natively pretty soon.

5 Likes

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