Cleaning up unused/deleted takes

I apologize if this question has already been answered, but I'd like to know the best way to manage deleted takes from my project. I now have a project file that thinks that it is missing 20 files which are all tracks that I have deleted (or thought I deleted). When I delete take/track, I want the audio file to be deleted also. Is there a setting for this or a way to do it - I couldn't find one. Thanks in advance.

Hi Mike, With the project loaded, 'File > Clean current project directory...' should toss any files not used in the project anymore. You can send them to the recycle bin or not. However, because I am a paranoid schizophrenic bastage, I do a 'Save As..." including making a new folder and checking the 'Copy Media to project folder' option. Once that is done, I check the just copied project to make sure all is well, then I either archive the original folder to external media or delete it. Back it up and do a trial run first to see what you like best. D

Try this app it should solve your problems and it works across multiple sessions/projects It also indicates if you have audio files that are located elsewhere than expected in your project - which may not get backed up under normal circumstances or get deleted not knowing they are used in another project. It is also reasonably configurable - eg you can choose not to delete certain files eg *.mix or *.master, lyrics.doc or whatever.

Clean Current Project Directory 

I agree and why early on into using DAWS I always give each song/project it's own folder and backup/zip my songs folder to hard drive and also to a USB pen/flash drive.Because of limited space I also consolidate my projects using .ogg format but now use Wavepack lossless which reduces the size around 10 fold when done.

Wow another great feature that I have missed. I'm going to give Media sweeper a try too. .....Thank you forum.....

Maybe it has already been mentioned but if you set your default project settings to copy the file into the project directory, anytime you happen to drag/drop a file into a session a copy is automatically created in that sessions project folder. This generally prevents shared session files which means the clean project directory feature should be fairly full proof. I also have a external HDD where all changed files are backed up nightly. Meaning I have a current mirror of my Audio drive at all times. Every so often I'll archive the projects on the backup drive to DVDs. Whenever I make the DVD backups, I run the daily backup once in purge mode which will delete any files on the backup drive that no longer exist on my regular audio drive. This removes files I no longer need from the backup drive (I still have them anyway on the monthly DVD set). This has been about the best method I have found so far. Daily backup time is relative to how many files I changed that day etc and once a file is 30 days old there will likely be 3 copies of it (Audio Drive, Backup Drive, DVD).. Karbo

[QUOTE=karbomusic;394403] if you set your default project settings to copy the file into the project directory, anytime you happen to drag/drop a file into a session a copy is automatically created in that sessions project folder. This generally prevents shared session files which means the clean project directory feature should be fairly full proof. I have Create subdirectory for projects and Move all media into project diretory, set as defaults. Will this change anything from how it works now?

Right - thanks! Clean cleans out unused files but my project have 6 files that it thinks it is still linked to but it isn't. These are most likely takes that I have removed from the project. Perhaps if I could see where they were linked in I could remove. Multiple-taking seems to create a lot of "pseudo" tracks at the end of the take where you end at different times. Reaper seems to "split" each take in a track when this happens. I find this quite annoying and wish I could prevent it.

There are certainly a heap of options so it really depends on how you have your project(s) setup and your workflow as to what is the most suitable.