Unable to rename a page to an earlier name

[SujaniKo]

Hi, there is a page with name 'my-field'.  It was deleted by mistake. Now when I try to add a page in the same location with that name it is getting renamed to my-field1 or if that is deleted, to my-field2 or my-field0.  Is there any way to create a page with the original name of my-field please? Thank you!

[SantoshSai]

Hi @SujaniKo,

Most probably because AEM still has a residual node with that name somewhere under the parent path, even if the page was deleted from the UI. AEM won’t reuse the name if any hidden node, version, or replication queue entry still exists.

A few things you can try:

1. Check CRXDE under the parent path
   Go to CRXDE Lite and look under the folder where the page lived.
   Sometimes the deleted page leaves behind a node like:

   /content/.../my-field

   or

   /content/.../my-field/jcr:content

   If you see anything like that still there, delete it manually.

2. Check trash / restore log (if using AEM Cloud)
   If your instance supports restoring deleted pages, check if the page is still in the recycle bin and permanently delete it.

3. Check for workflow remnants
   If a workflow was running when the delete happened, a temp node under:

   /var/workflow/instances

   may still reference the old page. Clearing the workflow instance usually resolves name reservations.

4. Check MSM / Blueprint child pages
   If the page had live copies, AEM may recreate the node automatically.
   Check under:

   /content/.../my-field

Once the old node (or any leftover child node) is completely removed, AEM will allow you to create my-field again with the exact name - no suffix.

[abhishekanand_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @SujaniKo you must have deleted the page with the archive option enabled and if you are saying it was by mistake then yea it's possible because by default it's enabled, always uncheck if you want to create a page with same because if not then aem would store that  for you to restore 

[muskaanchandwani]

Hello @SujaniKo 

AEM won’t allow two sibling pages with the same name. When you create a page and a node with that name already exists under that parent, AEM automatically renames the new page by appending a number (for example, my-field1).

The most likely cause is that the original my-field node still exists in the repository (possibly as a deactivated page, a launch/live-copy, or via a custom “soft delete”).

To reuse the exact name my-field, an admin/dev needs to:
1. Check in CRX/DE under the same parent (/content/...) for a node named my-field.
2. If it’s not needed anywhere, delete that node.
3. Create the page again and explicitly set the Name field to my-field.