# Stupid Question - When I delete a page - Why does it stay on the server? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elements\ **Created:** [August 3, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415 "2025-08-03T00:49:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MichaelDroste](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/michaeldroste/32/37212_2.png) [@MichaelDroste](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MichaelDroste)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/1 "2025-08-03T00:49:55Z")
Stupid Question - When I delete a page - Why does it stay on the server? I cleaned out some old unvisited pages… why do I have to login to the hosting company and manually delete them? Shouldn’t Elements delete the page like I did in the app? -Mike ---
**Author:** ![rblucchesi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rblucchesi](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/rblucchesi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/2 "2025-08-03T01:12:04Z")
You have to delete those yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Flash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Flash](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Flash)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/3 "2025-08-03T01:45:58Z")
The app does not work in both directions. This is for security reason as well as technical reasons. It is better for the webmaster to have control then allow the app to randomly delete support files it may need for other pages. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelDroste](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/michaeldroste/32/37212_2.png) [@MichaelDroste](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MichaelDroste)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/4 "2025-08-03T02:00:17Z")
I had a lot of pages to delete and a lot of websites by the time i checked the server to see if they were there… i forgot what pages accross all the different sites i wanted to delete.. Old - 🙂 couldnt remember them all and there’s 4 things per page now? Html js css and folder? ---
**Author:** ![maxken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@maxken](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/maxken)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:32am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/5 "2025-08-03T02:32:37Z")
I get why you would want this option but @Flash is correct. There are lots of reasons why automating deletions from servers is not a good idea and could easily cause problems. I think best practice is to use one of the many FTP clients available (I use Transmit). Note to @dan … Is it possible to indicate on the “Publish” icon on the top bar the currently active destination? Maybe with a hover? ---
**Author:** ![WOS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e7dd6/32.png) [@WOS](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/WOS)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 3:52am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/6 "2025-08-03T03:52:15Z")
Every so often, late on a sunday night when I expect minimal traffic - I upload an “under maintenance” index.html file to the server, and then delete all the other files and folders in the public\_html folder. (Any required local resources folders can left) I download a few other files first - the htaccess, the robots, the google account html file for your google search console, and the sitemap. Also download any pdf files Then I completely publish the site; then upload the 4 files above back to the public\_html. (then i rerun a sitemap generator and upload that XML file and replace the old one) Now all the “old” files that shouldn’t be there are gone and you are confident only needed ones are on the server. Faster than looking for old files and saving you from possibly deleting something you shouldn’t and not noticing. ---
**Author:** ![Tov](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/tov/32/29403_2.png) [@Tov](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Tov)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/7 "2025-08-03T17:34:36Z")
I think it’s already there. Next to the publish button is a small triangle pointing down. Press that and you see where it’s uploading. ---
**Author:** ![Ulrich](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ulrich/32/29764_2.png) [@Ulrich](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Ulrich)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 11:22am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/8 "2025-08-04T11:22:33Z")
This discussion highlights a very good point that Elements can do better than any other. Why isn’t there a trash folder where renamed or deleted pages (directories) are noted and an attempt is made to delete them with every upload? Only when I remove the pages from the trash folder can Elements no longer know about them and doesn’t delete anything. So, all changes to the page’s directory should be noted in the trash folder. The contents must be backed up using macOS’ “Duplicate” option or a proper backup. Wouldn’t that be a nice feature for working with Elements? ---
**Author:** ![Ulrich](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/ulrich/32/29764_2.png) [@Ulrich](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Ulrich)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 6:33am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/9 "2025-08-05T06:33:47Z")
I’ve made a suggestion. Please vote: [https://elements.nolt.io](https://elements.nolt.io) #126 ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dan/32/28516_2.png) [@dan](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 8:31am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/stupid-question-when-i-delete-a-page-why-does-it-stay-on-the-server/49415/10 "2025-08-05T08:31:00Z")
I like the idea of having a “Trash” folder so nothing gets properly deleted and the user can then decide if it should really be deleted. We plan to revisit publishing, and work on better sync between Elements and the Server. So while I can’t say when this will happen, something like this is on the roadmap 🙂