Deleting Books
When you no longer need a book, Penpoint lets you permanently delete it and all its characters, chapters, notes, and everything else in the book. Penpoint includes safeguards to prevent accidental deletion.
Note: Before deleting, make sure you have a backup — you can create one using Backup & Restore. There is no way to undo a book deletion, and all of its data is permanently removed.
Opening the Delete Window
To delete a book, go to the book library and find the book you want to remove. Right-click the book's card (or Ctrl+click on Mac), or click the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner of the card, then select Delete.
A warning window will appear, showing what you're about to delete and asking you to confirm before going ahead.
Understanding the Warning
The delete window shows a clear warning with the book's name and explains what will happen. It emphasizes that this action cannot be undone and that all data will be permanently removed.
Note: Deleting a book also removes all of its internal backups within Penpoint. However, if you've set up a secondary backup folder (in Settings), those backup copies are safe and can be used to restore the book later.
What Gets Deleted
When you delete a book, everything in it is permanently removed:
- All Characters: Character profiles, character details, notes, and tags
- All Chapters & Manuscript: Chapter definitions, scenes, scene drafts (copies of a scene you saved before making changes), and saved versions (snapshots of your full manuscript at a point in time)
- All Locations: Individual locations, including any locations inside other locations
- All Items: Individual items and their details
- All Relationships: Character relationship data
- All Notes: Notebook entries
- All Arcs: Story arcs and character arcs
- All Tags & Custom Labels: Any custom categories or labels you created for characters, items, or locations
- All Internal Backups: Every backup within Penpoint for this book is also removed, but any backup copies saved to a separate folder on your computer are safe
- Book Settings: Your book's settings
Tip: If you have a secondary backup location (a separate folder where Penpoint saves extra copies, if you've set one up in Settings), those backup copies are not deleted. You can find them in that folder if you need to restore the book later.
Confirming Deletion
To prevent accidental deletion, Penpoint asks you to type the book's exact name in the confirmation text box. This makes sure you know which book you're deleting and gives you a moment to reconsider.
The Delete Book button stays grayed out until you type the book's name exactly as shown in the prompt, matching capital and lowercase letters. You can try as many times as you need; the button simply stays grayed out until the name matches.
Tip: If you can't remember the exact spelling or capitalization, cancel the window and check the book's name in the library before trying again.
After Deletion
Once you confirm the deletion, Penpoint removes the book and all its data from your system. A confirmation message will appear letting you know the book has been deleted. Click Close to return to the book library.
If the deleted book was currently open, Penpoint will close it and return you to the library view.
Alternatives to Deletion
Before deleting a book, consider these alternatives:
- Save a Backup Copy: Create a backup and store it safely in case you need the data later
- Keep for Reference: Leave the book in your library for future reference, even if you're not actively working on it
- Duplicate First: If you want to restructure heavily, duplicate the book first so you have the original as a fallback. You can do this from the same three-dot menu on the book's card in the library.
Note: For more on duplicating, see Duplicating Books.
When to Delete
Deletion is appropriate when:
- You've saved a backup copy and verified it can be restored
- The book was a test or experiment you no longer need
- You're certain you won't need any of the data in the future
- You want to free up space (though Penpoint books are typically small)
Tip: If you're unsure whether to delete a book, save a backup copy first. Backups are small and can save you from regret later.