Removing old Pocket articles from Kobo?

Oolong · 04-05-2019, 03:49 AM

Hi, my Kobo (H2O Two) is too full to update, and a big part of the reason is probably the 11,000 or so articles I've saved there from Pocket. I really don't want to delete them all, but maybe most of them. The only ways I've found to delete articles are individually or wholesale; I feel like I must be missing something?

(I'm on Linux Mint, for what that's worth; I can browse folders by author, but it looks as if the articles are stored somewhere else that I can't find...)

davidfor · 04-05-2019, 04:28 AM

No, the only way to remove the articles are one at a time or all at once. You do get an option to delete them when you finish reading it. Or when the article is put in the archive.

If you want to look, the articles are in .kobo/articles. But, they are also in the database. Removing the article files will leave the database entry.

Oolong · 04-05-2019, 05:08 AM

That's a heck of a missing feature! Any idea how much it'll break things if I delete files but don't edit the database? It's pretty unlikely I'll ever try to access most of these articles if they're more than a few months old!

Oolong · 04-05-2019, 05:24 AM

*backs up database, deletes a few thousand old files, hopes for the best*

davidfor · 04-05-2019, 07:02 AM

If you are only interested in keeping recent articles, there is something you can do. In the config file, is the timestamp for the last Pocket sync. If you remove all the articles, and set this to whenever you want to keep articles from. The next sync should download articles added since then.

The entry is "LastSync" in the "Pocket" section of the config file. The value is an epoch timestamp, so you will need to calculate that.

Cootey · 04-08-2019, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

If you are only interested in keeping recent articles, there is something you can do. In the config file, is the timestamp for the last Pocket sync. If you remove all the books, and set this to whenever you want to keep articles from. The next sync should download articles added since then.

The entry is "LastSync" in the "Pocket" section of the config file. The value is an epoch timestamp, so you will need to calculate that.

That’s good to know, David. Thanks for sharing. I was thinking the OP could sign out of Pocket so the articles would only be removed from the Kobo, update the firmware, then sign back in to Pocket.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

davidfor · 04-08-2019, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cootey

That good to know, David. Thanks for sharing. I was thinking the OP could sign out of Pocket so the articles would only be removed from the Kobo, update the firmware, then sign back in to Pocket.

It was a mistake on my part. I automatically type "books" where I meant "articles". I even remember rereading while writing the post and thinking I had to fix that. I have no idea why I didn't.

I've fixed the post in case someone else looks at it.

Oolong · 04-09-2019, 10:35 AM

For what it's worth, I just navigated to the folder, and deleted all articles more than a year old. As far as I can tell, the only ill effect is that Pocket doesn't realise they're gone, so if I navigated to my oldest saved articles, the titles are there but when I click through the articles are blank.

I think I can live with that, and it's a big relief to have plenty of space on the Kobo again.

They really ought to include an option to automatically delete articles over a certain age, or a certain number of articles, as the mobile app does. Oh well!

Thanks for your help, folks.

davidfor · 04-09-2019, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oolong

For what it's worth, I just navigated to the folder, and deleted all articles more than a year old. As far as I can tell, the only ill effect is that Pocket doesn't realise they're gone, so if I navigated to my oldest saved articles, the titles are there but when I click through the articles are blank.

That was the reason for my suggestion of removing all and then setting the LastSync timestamp. That should do the cleanup for you.

If you want to fiddle with the database, you can delete the records. There are entries in two tables that should be removed.

Another way would be to do this on the Pocket site. Deleting them there should delete from the device when you you sync. There might also be a status or other change you can make that would remove them. I haven't played enough to be sure.

compurandom · 04-10-2019, 08:54 AM

You can also change the setting in the kobo to remove archived articles from the device, and then archive them on the pocket website and sync.

I both archive and delete articles on the website all the time and they are removed from the device on next sync.

Cootey · 04-13-2019, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compurandom

You can also change the setting in the kobo to remove archived articles from the device, and then archive them on the pocket website and sync.

I both archive and delete articles on the website all the time and they are removed from the device on next sync.

Exactly! "Manage Downloads" in the Kobo settings lets us "Remove All" Pocket articles, as well as opting to remove archived articles. That's even easier than my suggestion above.

Oolong · 04-21-2019, 01:29 PM

I'm sure that's great if you consistently read every article you save to Pocket, but that is not how I use it. The mobile app has options to limit the space occupied by articles, so obviously they recognise that not everyone uses it in a way that's compatible with either archiving every article ever saved, or deleting them wholesale. This way of using Pocket is not some obscure edge case.

04-05-2019, 03:49 AM	#1
Oolong Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Removing old Pocket articles from Kobo? Hi, my Kobo (H2O Two) is too full to update, and a big part of the reason is probably the 11,000 or so articles I've saved there from Pocket. I really don't want to delete them all, but maybe most of them. The only ways I've found to delete articles are individually or wholesale; I feel like I must be missing something? (I'm on Linux Mint, for what that's worth; I can browse folders by author, but it looks as if the articles are stored somewhere else that I can't find...)

04-05-2019, 07:02 AM	#5
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	If you are only interested in keeping recent articles, there is something you can do. In the config file, is the timestamp for the last Pocket sync. If you remove all the articles, and set this to whenever you want to keep articles from. The next sync should download articles added since then. The entry is "LastSync" in the "Pocket" section of the config file. The value is an epoch timestamp, so you will need to calculate that. Last edited by davidfor; 04-08-2019 at 04:04 AM. Reason: Said "books" where I meant articles.

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04-05-2019, 04:28 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	No, the only way to remove the articles are one at a time or all at once. You do get an option to delete them when you finish reading it. Or when the article is put in the archive. If you want to look, the articles are in .kobo/articles. But, they are also in the database. Removing the article files will leave the database entry.

04-05-2019, 05:08 AM	#3
Oolong Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Device: Kobo Aura H2O	That's a heck of a missing feature! Any idea how much it'll break things if I delete files but don't edit the database? It's pretty unlikely I'll ever try to access most of these articles if they're more than a few months old!

04-05-2019, 05:24 AM	#4
Oolong Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Device: Kobo Aura H2O	backs up database, deletes a few thousand old files, hopes for the best

04-09-2019, 10:35 AM	#8
Oolong Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Device: Kobo Aura H2O	For what it's worth, I just navigated to the folder, and deleted all articles more than a year old. As far as I can tell, the only ill effect is that Pocket doesn't realise they're gone, so if I navigated to my oldest saved articles, the titles are there but when I click through the articles are blank. I think I can live with that, and it's a big relief to have plenty of space on the Kobo again. They really ought to include an option to automatically delete articles over a certain age, or a certain number of articles, as the mobile app does. Oh well! Thanks for your help, folks.

04-10-2019, 08:54 AM	#10
compurandom Guru Posts: 919 Karma: 417282 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: kobo aura h2o, kobo forma	You can also change the setting in the kobo to remove archived articles from the device, and then archive them on the pocket website and sync. I both archive and delete articles on the website all the time and they are removed from the device on next sync.

04-21-2019, 01:29 PM	#12
Oolong Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2017 Device: Kobo Aura H2O	I'm sure that's great if you consistently read every article you save to Pocket, but that is not how I use it. The mobile app has options to limit the space occupied by articles, so obviously they recognise that not everyone uses it in a way that's compatible with either archiving every article ever saved, or deleting them wholesale. This way of using Pocket is not some obscure edge case.