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Delete an Asset
There will be times when an asset needs to be removed from AEM, and you will need to follow the steps below to correctly delete the asset from the platform. Otherwise, issues could arise from deleting the asset.
*Remember: In AEM, no matter the object, (Pages, Assets, Content Fragments, Forms, etc) NEVER just delete something. ALWAYS Unpublish the item first, then Delete!
Check for References
Navigate to the asset you intend to remove. Then follow the steps below to view any and all references to that asset.
"Hard-select" the asset you want to remove.
Click the "Toggle Side Panel" icon in the upper left-hand corner of the window.
Select "References" from the drop-down menu.
A panel will open on the left-hand side of the page with a list of the various types of references that point to that asset. Click the option "Site References" to view the list of pages where the asset is referenced. All references will have to be fixed manually on each page.
Clear All Site References
Click on one of the page titles in the Site References list, and a button will appear below the page title. Right-click the "Go to link" button and select "Open link in new tab" from the drop-down menu.
Note: Opening the page in a new tab makes it simpler to edit the component on that page, and get back to the Site References list for the asset with ease.
Locate the component holding the asset you are working with on the page you were directed to. Then, take appropriate action based on your editing needs. Understand that once you delete this asset the public visitor will not be able to view the image and/or download the file asset, and any remaining references will result in a broken link and poor user experience.
Unpublish the Asset
Back on the "assets" page in AEM, you will hard-select the asset to be removed, then click "Manage Publication" along the top ribbon.
On the Options page, select the "Unpublish" Action and leave "Now" selected for Scheduling. Then click "Next."
On the Scope page, you only need to click "Unpublish," and all of the assets listed will be unpublished.
The "Scream Test"
Unpublishing the Asset is the first step to what is known as the "Scream Test."
In short, a Scream Test is the process where we will soft-remove (Unpublish) an asset or page in order to determine ownership and/or use-case of content. This occurs by waiting for any sort of contact (IE: calls, email, anything) regarding the disappearance of the item in question. Depending on the content being deleted, a period of time may be required for the Scream Test in order to determine if the item may in fact be deleted without repercussions. If content is pertinent, likely the test will succeed the same day, sometimes within hours or even minutes, depending on content unpublished.
The point in this is, if a user makes contact to complain about something missing, it is only a few clicks to get the content back in a timely manner, simply by Publishing the item again.
Once the user-determined period of time has elapsed for the Scream Test and no users have complained about the missing page/asset, then it is time to actually delete the physical data for the asset or page in question. The Scream Test may be skipped if the data already has verified-ownership and request to remove/delete comes from them directly.
Delete the Asset
At this point the asset is ready for deletion. You can verify the asset is unpublished by looking for an "Un-Published" status (in Column view), the Un-Published icon (in Card view), or the Published column (in List View).
Hard-select the asset again. Click the three horizontal dots in the top ribbon, and select "Delete" from the drop-down list.
Click "Delete" on the pop-up that appears to confirm the asset should be deleted. Once done the asset will be completely removed from AEM.
