this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Delete backup files when saving (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago by usuario1986@alien.top to c/emacs
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Hi.

Still learning Emacs but happy with it so far. One thing i'm trying to find out is this. I'm OK with Emacs creating recovery files from which i can, well, recover my work after emacs is closed. However, if I save my files, I have no need for these #filename# or filename~ files that populate my folders. Is there a way to make emacs keep creating these recovery files, but deleting them if I *save* my actual files?

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[–] SnooPets20@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's what git is for, or just having undo-tree from which the file can be reverted to a previous state.

I tried to keep auto-saves and backup files in their own separate directory, since they always litter my projects which is annoying, but they just won't listen, I have to disable them.

[–] 7890yuiop@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

That's what git is for

Even for files which are being tracked in version control, I don't agree that VCS always replaces backups. In some cases, yes; but backups are to protect me from data loss, and I want that protection in more situations than VCS gives me.

or just having undo-tree

I assume you mean "with a persistent undo record", which is another form of backup file, so sure -- whichever kind(s) of backup you prefer. Personally I believe I'd still want regular backups even if I used that -- if I can't trivially grep or compare old versions, I'd feel I'm missing a capability.

I tried to keep auto-saves and backup files in their own separate directory, since they always litter my projects which is annoying, but they just won't listen, I have to disable them.

I keep all backups in a separate directory, and I do not experience your problem, so that sounds to me like a fixable config issue.