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Trash ​

Notebooks

Deleted notebooks are added to the Trash, and are recoverable for 30 days after deletion. This page describes how to delete notebooks, view Trash contents, and recover notebooks.

Deleting notebooks ​

Anyone with permission to edit a notebook can also delete a notebook. To delete a notebook, open the Notebook menu with the three-dot menu in the top right, then select Delete. If the Delete option does not appear in the Notebook menu, it means you don’t have permissions to delete it.

Open notebook menu, with the bottom-most option 'Delete' visible, alongside a Trash can icon.
Delete a notebook from the Notebook menu.

After selecting the Delete option, a window appears where you can confirm notebook deletion:

A pop-up window where a user must confirm they want to move their notebook to the Trash.
Confirm that you want to move a notebook to the Trash.

Viewing Trash contents ​

Deleted notebooks are sent to your workspace Trash, where they remain and can be recovered for 30 days. From your workspace Home, navigate to Trash in the left sidebar menu:

Left sidebar menu of an Observable home page with a bottom option for Trash, next to a trash can icon.
Navigate to Trash from your workspace home page.

In your Trash page, you will see recently deleted content for that workspace.

Recovering content from the Trash ​

A deleted notebooks remains in the Trash for 30 days, after which it is permanently deleted.

When you attempt to open a notebook that is currently in the Trash, a message appears letting you know that you cannot edit a notebook while it is in the Trash, and with options to either leave the notebook there, or move it out of Trash.

Pop-up window that appears if a user tries to open a notebook from Trash, with text 'Notebooks can't be edited from the trash. To edit this notebook, first move it out of the trash'. Buttons below allow a user to choose 'Leave in trash' or 'Move out of trash'.
Navigate to Trash from your workspace home page.

Once a notebook is removed from the Trash, you are again able to view and make edits as usual. Notebooks removed from the Trash are not automatically re-added to collections they may have existed in before they were deleted.