diff --git a/internal/apply/apply.go b/internal/apply/apply.go
index cb8c37f..ca0c3da 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply.go
@@ -2897,3 +2897,39 @@ func managerAway(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, scope, user string, run
 	}
 	return "", nil
 }
+
+// removeFile undoes a file the host wrote whole, and destroys nothing it did not make (novox/hq
+// issue 241).
+//
+// **Deleted only when it holds exactly what this host last wrote** — then nothing is lost, because
+// the mesh can write it again. Anything else is moved aside to `<path>.removed-<time>` and reported
+// kept: a file created once and filled since by its program, one edited on the machine, one this
+// host has no record of writing. The rule a directory already follows — the host removes what it
+// made and keeps what it did not — applied to the one shape that was still deleted outright.
+func removeFile(a store.Applied, now time.Time) (string, string, error) {
+	info, err := os.Lstat(a.Target)
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		return "forgotten", "no longer there", nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", err
+	}
+	if info.Mode().IsRegular() && a.Wrote != "" {
+		content, err := os.ReadFile(a.Target)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", "", err
+		}
+		if digestOf(string(content)) == a.Wrote {
+			if err := os.Remove(a.Target); err != nil {
+				return "", "", err
+			}
+			return "removed", "no longer declared, and held only what the mesh wrote", nil
+		}
+	}
+	aside := a.Target + ".removed-" + now.Format("20060102-150405")
+	if err := os.Rename(a.Target, aside); err != nil {
+		return "", "", err
+	}
+	return "kept", fmt.Sprintf("no longer declared, and it held more than the mesh wrote — moved aside to %s; "+
+		"remove it by hand once you know what it is", aside), nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/apply/remove_file_test.go b/internal/apply/remove_file_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38135df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/apply/remove_file_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package apply
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/store"
+)
+
+// A file the host wrote whole is deleted only when it holds exactly what the host wrote; anything
+// else is moved aside, never destroyed (novox/hq issue 241).
+func TestAnUndeclaredFileIsDeletedOnlyWhenItIsWhatTheMeshWrote(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	now := time.Date(2026, 10, 5, 9, 30, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	pure := filepath.Join(dir, "config.conf")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(pure, []byte("what the mesh wrote\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	action, _, err := removeFile(store.Applied{Type: "file", Target: pure, Wrote: digestOf("what the mesh wrote\n")}, now)
+	if err != nil || action != "removed" {
+		t.Fatalf("a file holding only the mesh's content was %q (%v)", action, err)
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(pure); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Fatal("the mesh's own file is still there")
+	}
+
+	for name, a := range map[string]store.Applied{
+		"filled since":    {Type: "file", Wrote: digestOf("seed\n")},
+		"no record of it": {Type: "file"},
+	} {
+		path := filepath.Join(dir, strings.ReplaceAll(name, " ", "-")+".db")
+		if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("seed\nand a program's data\n"), 0o600); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		a.Target = path
+		action, detail, err := removeFile(a, now)
+		if err != nil || action != "kept" {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: was %q (%v)", name, action, err)
+		}
+		aside := path + ".removed-20261005-093000"
+		got, err := os.ReadFile(aside)
+		if err != nil || string(got) != "seed\nand a program's data\n" {
+			t.Fatalf("%s: not moved aside intact to %s: %v", name, aside, err)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(detail, aside) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the report does not say where it went: %s", name, detail)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if action, _, _ := removeFile(store.Applied{Type: "file", Target: filepath.Join(dir, "gone")}, now); action != "forgotten" {
+		t.Errorf("a file already gone was %q", action)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/apply/whole.go b/internal/apply/whole.go
index 8721f53..69d2dc6 100644
--- a/internal/apply/whole.go
+++ b/internal/apply/whole.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-host/internal/store"
 )
@@ -22,7 +23,8 @@ import (
 // The cases, decided once and in this order:
 //
 //   - **No kept original** — the mesh made the file where there was none (or the record is from
-//     before the host kept originals, which it cannot tell apart): removed, as before.
+//     before the host kept originals, which it cannot tell apart): removed while it holds exactly
+//     what the mesh wrote, and moved aside otherwise (removeFile, novox/hq issue 241).
 //   - **The file is gone** — somebody removed it: nothing is put back, since bringing back a file a
 //     person deleted is not giving back the state the mesh found; the original stays kept.
 //   - **The file was changed since the mesh last wrote it** — it is somebody's again, as a block or
@@ -36,13 +38,9 @@ import (
 // rest of an unassignment. The kept copy itself is never deleted (novox/hq ADR 0100).
 func removeWhole(a store.Applied) (string, string, error) {
 	if a.Kept == "" {
-		if err := os.RemoveAll(a.Target); err != nil {
-			return "", "", err
-		}
-		if _, err := os.Stat(a.Target); !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("%s is still there after removing it", a.Target)
-		}
-		return "removed", "no longer declared", nil
+		// The mesh made it: deleted only while it holds exactly what the mesh wrote, otherwise moved
+		// aside — a file created once and filled since is data (novox/hq issue 241).
+		return removeFile(a, time.Now())
 	}
 
 	current, err := os.ReadFile(a.Target)