diff --git a/controller/Files.py b/controller/Files.py
index dd986de..8218b52 100644
--- a/controller/Files.py
+++ b/controller/Files.py
@@ -531,23 +531,26 @@ class Files( object ):
 
     return dict()
 
-  def purge_unused( self, note ):
+  def purge_unused( self, note, purge_all_links = False ):
     """
     Delete files that were linked from the given note but no longer are.
 
     @type note: model.Note
     @param note: note to search for file links
+    @type ignore_file_links: bool
+    @param ignore_file_links: if True, delete all files that are/were linked from this note
     """
     # load metadata for all files with the given note's note_id 
     files = self.__database.select_many( File, File.sql_load_note_files( note.object_id ) )
     files_to_delete = dict( [ ( db_file.object_id, db_file ) for db_file in files ] )
 
     # search through the note's contents for current links to files
-    for match in self.FILE_LINK_PATTERN.finditer( note.contents ):
-      file_id = match.groups( 0 )[ 0 ]
+    if purge_all_links is False:
+      for match in self.FILE_LINK_PATTERN.finditer( note.contents ):
+        file_id = match.groups( 0 )[ 0 ]
 
-      # we've found a link for file_id, so don't delete that file
-      files_to_delete.pop( file_id, None )
+        # we've found a link for file_id, so don't delete that file
+        files_to_delete.pop( file_id, None )
 
     # for each file to delete, delete its metadata from the database and its data from the
     # filesystem
diff --git a/controller/Notebooks.py b/controller/Notebooks.py
index 46d46f3..dd63621 100644
--- a/controller/Notebooks.py
+++ b/controller/Notebooks.py
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
         note.notebook_id = notebook.trash_id
         note.startup = True
       else:
+        self.__files.purge_unused( note, purge_all_links = True )
         note.notebook_id = None
       note.user_id = user_id
 
@@ -702,6 +703,7 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
         note.notebook_id = notebook.trash_id
         note.startup = True
       else:
+        self.__files.purge_unused( note, purge_all_links = True )
         note.notebook_id = None
       note.user_id = user_id
 
diff --git a/static/js/Wiki.js b/static/js/Wiki.js
index f083622..bb76a19 100644
--- a/static/js/Wiki.js
+++ b/static/js/Wiki.js
@@ -2489,6 +2489,8 @@ File_link_pulldown.prototype.delete_button_clicked = function ( event ) {
 
   this.link.href = "/files/new";
   this.editor.focus();
+
+  this.wiki.display_message( 'The file "' + strip( this.filename_field.value ) + '" has been deleted.' );
 }
 
 File_link_pulldown.prototype.update_position = function ( anchor, relative_to ) {