Add advanced setting to remove the "remember choice" padlock button in the deletion confirmation dialog

[vlakoff]

Suggestion

Add an advanced setting (e.g. "Never remember 'delete files' choice" / "Hide the 'remember choice' button") that removes the padlock ("remember choice") button from the torrent deletion confirmation dialog, both in the Qt UI and in the WebUI.

When this setting is enabled, the "Also delete files" checkbox would simply default to a value from the preferences (or to unchecked — see open question below) on every dialog open, with no in-dialog way to change that default. The choice would then be made explicitly, case by case, every time.

Open question

If the padlock is hidden/removed via this setting, how should the default then be set or changed? Two options I can see:

1. Expose the existing Preferences::removeTorrentContent() value directly as a checkbox in Options → Advanced (or Behavior), so it's set once, deliberately, outside the dialog.
2. Simply force the default to always be unchecked when this setting is on, with no separate "default" concept at all.

I'd lean toward (1) since it preserves the existing feature for people who want a persisted default, just moves the control for changing it out of the deletion dialog itself.

Use case

The padlock icon is a fairly unconventional bit of UI: a small lock button that's disabled/enabled depending on whether your current checkbox state matches a stored default, which then persists a new default when clicked. It doesn't map to any standard control pattern, so it takes a moment to parse each time.

For users who don't have a strong tolerance for this kind of ambiguous, stateful control attached to a destructive action (I'd describe myself as anankastic), this adds real micro-friction on every single deletion: is it locked right now? will clicking OK silently change my default? A plain checkbox with no persistence mechanism at all would remove that friction entirely.

Side note: #24117 (which addresses #24100) already improves the situation somewhat, since the confirm button's label now changes based on the checkbox state ("Remove torrent" vs "Remove torrent and content"), which makes the current state more visible at a glance. That said, the fact that #24100 was filed at all — essentially asking for clearer visual feedback on this exact dialog — suggests the underlying control (checkbox + hidden persisted default + padlock) is a source of confusion beyond just my own case.

Extra info/examples/attachments

No response

[lucassantillifuck2fa]

i just wanted 2 buttons but they said no, against qbt's design philosophy. one day i will be smart enough to compile my own version, sadly some developers are not up for offering diversity even for something as simple as this.

[vlakoff]

Your proposal #22258 makes sense too, although personally I prefer the extra step of the checkbox, as an intentional safety measure (note that I rarely delete files, and when I do, it's directly, not to trash) — but it's really down to user preference.

Note that in both your proposal and mine, we're getting rid of the "padlock" button, which I definitely think is an antipattern.

If we want to be complete and cover all personal preferences, we could implement an advanced setting that allows every choice:

File deletion in torrent delete confirmation dialog

• Expose as a checkbox, initially unchecked [default setting]
• Expose as a checkbox, initially checked
• Expose as a separate button

[lucassantillifuck2fa]

I can't really code, don't even have Visual Studio, but with the help of copilot I was finally able to get the one thing I wanted the most on qbt:

[glassez]

This is similar to what was originally proposed in #24117. But it was rejected.

[lucassantillifuck2fa]

This is similar to what was originally proposed in #24117. But it was rejected.

I know too well, that's why I made it just for myself. But I do wonder, if I could make it totally optional through a checkbox in the advanced settings, would that be acceptable?