> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://elephas.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Remove Documents from a Brain

> Remove a document from an Elephas Brain. What happens to your original file, past chats and citations, your other synced devices, and your disk space.

To remove a document, open its Brain, click the document's **…** menu and choose **Delete**. Elephas removes its copy of the file and everything it indexed from it. Your original file is not touched.

## Before you start

* In a Team workspace, you can remove documents from a Team Brain if your role lets you add them. Readers cannot remove documents. See [team roles and permissions](/docs/teams/team-roles-and-permissions).
* A document that is still being added cannot be removed until it finishes or fails.

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Brain">
    Click the Brain in the sidebar, or open it from the **Brains** page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find the document">
    Type part of its name in **Search** above the list. To find files that failed, click the **Error** tab.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Delete">
    Hover over the document and click its **…** menu, or right-click the row. Choose **Delete**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Elephas asks **Delete "name"? Its indexed content is removed. This cannot be undone.** Click **Delete**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

To remove a whole Brain and every document in it, delete the Brain instead. See [create and manage Brains](/docs/brains-and-documents/create-and-manage-brains).

## How it works

### What is removed

| Removed | Kept |
| - | - |
| Elephas's copy of the file, including older versions | Your original file, wherever it is on your computer |
| The text Elephas extracted from it | Your chats |
| Its search index | The answers in your chats |
| Its place in future answers | The document's name in old citations |

### Past chats and citations

Your chats keep their answers. Citations to a removed document still show its name, and show **Source no longer available** instead of the passage. New questions no longer find anything in it.

### Personal Sync and Team Brains

* With [Personal Sync](/docs/sync-and-devices/personal-sync-overview) on, removing a document from a Brain also removes it on your other devices.
* Removing a document from a Team Brain removes it for everyone who can open that Brain.

### Disk space

Removing a document frees the space Elephas used for its copy, its older versions, its extracted text and its index. Elephas keeps a copy of every file you add, so a large Brain can use about as much space as the files themselves, plus its index. See [large libraries](/docs/brains-and-documents/performance-and-large-libraries).

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="There is no Delete in the menu">
    The document may still be getting ready, or your role on a Team Brain may not allow removing files. Wait for it to finish, or ask the Team Owner, an Admin or a Manager of the Brain.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The document came back">
    If you add the same file or folder again, the document is added again. With Personal Sync, check that the deletion has reached your other devices. See [sync troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting/sync-troubleshooting).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I removed a document by mistake">
    Removing cannot be undone, but your original file is unchanged. Add it again. Old citations to the removed copy stay unavailable.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Update documents" href="/docs/brains-and-documents/update-documents-and-versions" />

  <Card title="Citations and sources" href="/docs/ask/citations-and-sources" />

  <Card title="Where your data is stored" href="/docs/privacy-and-security/where-your-data-is-stored" />

  <Card title="What syncs" href="/docs/sync-and-devices/what-syncs" />
</CardGroup>


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