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deucalion removed

Lists or empties Removed Files: the old versions of changed files and the files deleted from your computer, kept on the drive in Deucalion-Backup/_removed/.

$ deucalion removed --help
usage: deucalion removed [-h] [-y] [--target NAME] [{list,empty}] [names ...]

list or empty _removed/ (old versions and deleted files)

positional arguments:
  {list,empty}
  names          batches to empty (default: all)

options:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  -y, --yes      don't ask for confirmation
  --target NAME  which registered drive to use

Listing

deucalion removed (or deucalion removed list) shows one line per batch: the folder of one backup, named after the date and time the backup started (2026-10-11_143005), with its number of files and size, oldest first:

$ deucalion removed
  2026-10-12_091017          3 files   95 B
  2026-10-12_091020          1 files   39 B
  2026-10-12_091041        403 files   333.8 MB
  Total: 333.8 MB   (/media/alex/Alex Backup/Deucalion-Backup/_removed)

Emptying

deucalion removed empty deletes all batches; deucalion removed empty NAME … only the batches you name. It shows what it will delete and asks first:

$ deucalion removed empty 2026-10-12_091017
This permanently deletes 1 batch(es), 95 B, from the drive:
  2026-10-12_091017   3 files   95 B
Delete them permanently? [y/N] y
Freed 95 B.

This can't be undone

Deleted batches are gone from the drive. If those files are also gone from your computer, they are lost.

Option What it does
list List the batches (the default).
empty Delete batches: all of them, or those named after it.
NAME … Batches to delete, as listed (e.g. 2026-10-11_143005). An unknown name stops it: "Not found in _removed/: …".
-y, --yes Don't ask Delete them permanently?
--target NAME Which backup drive.

You can also look at a batch with the Files app first: open the backup drive, then Deucalion-Backup/_removed/<batch>/. Inside, files are in the same folders as in the backup (home/Documents/…), with the names as stored on the drive.

Exit codes

0 listed or emptied (or nothing to empty); 1 an error, or you answered no ("Nothing was deleted.").