data/sessions/explorer-delete-file/memory.md

# Memory: explorer-delete-file

## Overview

Delete a file through the file manager's context menu. Use this when a file has to be
removed by pointing and a recoverable deletion is wanted — the file goes to the recycle
area and stays restorable until that is emptied. The route right-clicks the file, which
selects it and opens its menu in one action, and chooses Delete. The recorded trace removes
`report.pdf` from the working folder.

## Prerequisites

- A desktop environment with a file manager, or a shell.
- A file that exists and can be identified at run time by name.
- Write access to the folder holding it. Deletion changes the folder, not the file, so the
  folder's permissions are what govern.
- Certainty that the file is the right one and is genuinely no longer wanted. Neither route
  asks for confirmation.
- An understanding of which of the two end states is wanted. The file-manager route moves
  the file to a recoverable holding area; the shell route unlinks it immediately with
  nothing to restore from. The folder ends up in the same state either way, but only one
  of them is reversible.
- A backup, if the contents matter. Nothing in this task creates one.

## Steps

### Step 1 — Right-click at (250, 386)

The task is to remove `report.pdf` from the folder. Move the cursor and Right-click it in `corpus-seed`; right-clicking selects the file and opens its context menu in one action, so no separate selecting click is needed.

![Step 1](vision/frames/step_0001_20260731_124819_at.webp)

### Step 2 — Move-cursor at (301, 693)

Move the cursor onto the **`Delete`** row without clicking. Hovering first is what makes the click land reliably here, and it matters more than usual on this menu: `Rename` sits 22 px below `Delete` and `Create shortcut` 22 px above, so a click that lands one row off does something entirely different and equally silent.

![Step 2](vision/frames/step_0002_20260731_124824_at.webp)

### Step 3 — Left-click at (301, 693)

Move the cursor and Left-click **`Delete`** — the hover band confirms the row. Windows sends the file to the Recycle Bin with no confirmation prompt, which is the default behaviour, so the only visible signal is the row disappearing from the listing.

![Step 3](vision/frames/step_0003_20260731_124827_at.webp)

## Notes & Edge Cases

1. This route is recoverable and the shell equivalent is not. The file goes to the recycle bin and can be restored, where the shell command removes it immediately. The folder looks identical after either.
2. Right-click the file itself rather than empty space; the delete command belongs to the file's menu and the folder's menu does not carry it.
3. There is no confirmation for a recoverable delete on this system by default. The file leaves the folder as soon as the entry is clicked, so the highlight is the last chance to check.
4. Holding the bypass modifier turns the same entry into a permanent delete. That variant is not advertised anywhere on screen and there is no feedback afterwards saying which of the two happened.
5. Emptying the recycle bin is a separate task. The end state here is that the file is out of the folder, deliberately the reversible half.
6. Verify the file's contents, not just its name, before deleting it. A file of the right name can hold nothing at all.
7. Move to the target and click as separate actions, and prefer the keyboard equivalent when the selection is already correct.