Colonies and deleting planets Save

A colonised planet has a Colony section: its owner, designation, when it was colonised, and its pops by species. Before you remove or delete an empire's capital or a species' home planet, read Capitals and home planets.

Remove a colony

In a Stellaris 4.x save, click Remove colony in the planet's Colony section to remove the colony and keep the planet. The planet stays, with no owner. Its pops, jobs, districts, buildings, defence armies and orbital ring are removed. The system's starbase stays, even if it orbits the planet.

Delete a planet or moon

In a Stellaris 4.x save, you can delete a planet or moon. Right-click it in the system view and select Delete planet or Delete moon, or click the button at the bottom of its page. The app asks before it deletes anything, and one undo puts it all back.

• A planet that was in the save when you opened it takes its moons with it. Deleting a moon leaves its planet in place.
• A planet you added since you opened the save can't be deleted while it has moons. Delete its moons first.
• A colonised planet loses its colony first. The confirmation lists what goes: the colony, its pops, buildings, defence armies and any orbital ring. Colonies on its moons go too, and the confirmation says so.
• A mining or research station goes with the planet it works.
• An archaeological site on the planet is removed too. A science ship excavating it stops on the game's first day.
• An anomaly on the planet goes too, and no empire lists it any more.
• Deposits and survey records stay in the save. The game tidies them up when it loads.
• Fleets parked at the planet stay where they are. I haven't tested what the game does with them once the planet is gone.

Capitals and home planets

Capitals, home planets, habitats and occupied planets can be deleted or lose their colony too. The empire's capital and the species' home planet are left for the game to sort out. Anything the colony was building stays in the construction queue.

What can't be deleted

These can't be deleted or have their colony removed, and the button or menu item says why:

• stars
• a ring world section, which goes only with its whole ring: see Delete a ring world
• a planet with a megastructure on or around it, until you delete the megastructure
• an uncolonised planet a starbase orbits