diff --git a/meilisearch-types/src/error.rs b/meilisearch-types/src/error.rs
index 4b6711601..afe9c5189 100644
--- a/meilisearch-types/src/error.rs
+++ b/meilisearch-types/src/error.rs
@@ -324,7 +324,6 @@ impl ErrorCode for milli::Error {
                     UserError::SerdeJson(_)
                     | UserError::InvalidLmdbOpenOptions
                     | UserError::DocumentLimitReached
-                    | UserError::AccessingSoftDeletedDocument { .. }
                     | UserError::UnknownInternalDocumentId { .. } => Code::Internal,
                     UserError::InvalidStoreFile => Code::InvalidStoreFile,
                     UserError::NoSpaceLeftOnDevice => Code::NoSpaceLeftOnDevice,
diff --git a/milli/src/error.rs b/milli/src/error.rs
index e9e1fddd3..b249f2977 100644
--- a/milli/src/error.rs
+++ b/milli/src/error.rs
@@ -89,8 +89,6 @@ pub enum FieldIdMapMissingEntry {
 
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 pub enum UserError {
-    #[error("A soft deleted internal document id have been used: `{document_id}`.")]
-    AccessingSoftDeletedDocument { document_id: DocumentId },
     #[error("A document cannot contain more than 65,535 fields.")]
     AttributeLimitReached,
     #[error(transparent)]
diff --git a/milli/src/index.rs b/milli/src/index.rs
index 3e48f5eb1..b20674d4c 100644
--- a/milli/src/index.rs
+++ b/milli/src/index.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ pub mod main_key {
     pub const DISPLAYED_FIELDS_KEY: &str = "displayed-fields";
     pub const DISTINCT_FIELD_KEY: &str = "distinct-field-key";
     pub const DOCUMENTS_IDS_KEY: &str = "documents-ids";
-    pub const SOFT_DELETED_DOCUMENTS_IDS_KEY: &str = "soft-deleted-documents-ids";
     pub const HIDDEN_FACETED_FIELDS_KEY: &str = "hidden-faceted-fields";
     pub const FILTERABLE_FIELDS_KEY: &str = "filterable-fields";
     pub const SORTABLE_FIELDS_KEY: &str = "sortable-fields";
@@ -367,29 +366,6 @@ impl Index {
         Ok(count.unwrap_or_default())
     }
 
-    /* deleted documents ids */
-
-    /// Writes the soft deleted documents ids.
-    pub(crate) fn put_soft_deleted_documents_ids(
-        &self,
-        wtxn: &mut RwTxn,
-        docids: &RoaringBitmap,
-    ) -> heed::Result<()> {
-        self.main.put::<_, Str, RoaringBitmapCodec>(
-            wtxn,
-            main_key::SOFT_DELETED_DOCUMENTS_IDS_KEY,
-            docids,
-        )
-    }
-
-    /// Returns the soft deleted documents ids.
-    pub(crate) fn soft_deleted_documents_ids(&self, rtxn: &RoTxn) -> heed::Result<RoaringBitmap> {
-        Ok(self
-            .main
-            .get::<_, Str, RoaringBitmapCodec>(rtxn, main_key::SOFT_DELETED_DOCUMENTS_IDS_KEY)?
-            .unwrap_or_default())
-    }
-
     /* primary key */
 
     /// Writes the documents primary key, this is the field name that is used to store the id.
@@ -1187,12 +1163,7 @@ impl Index {
         rtxn: &'t RoTxn,
         ids: impl IntoIterator<Item = DocumentId> + 'a,
     ) -> Result<impl Iterator<Item = Result<(DocumentId, obkv::KvReaderU16<'t>)>> + 'a> {
-        let soft_deleted_documents = self.soft_deleted_documents_ids(rtxn)?;
-
         Ok(ids.into_iter().map(move |id| {
-            if soft_deleted_documents.contains(id) {
-                return Err(UserError::AccessingSoftDeletedDocument { document_id: id })?;
-            }
             let kv = self
                 .documents
                 .get(rtxn, &BEU32::new(id))?
@@ -1418,14 +1389,10 @@ impl Index {
         rtxn: &RoTxn,
         key: &(Script, Language),
     ) -> heed::Result<Option<RoaringBitmap>> {
-        let soft_deleted_documents = self.soft_deleted_documents_ids(rtxn)?;
-        let doc_ids = self.script_language_docids.get(rtxn, key)?;
-        Ok(doc_ids.map(|ids| ids - soft_deleted_documents))
+        Ok(self.script_language_docids.get(rtxn, key)?)
     }
 
     pub fn script_language(&self, rtxn: &RoTxn) -> heed::Result<HashMap<Script, Vec<Language>>> {
-        let soft_deleted_documents = self.soft_deleted_documents_ids(rtxn)?;
-
         let mut script_language: HashMap<Script, Vec<Language>> = HashMap::new();
         let mut script_language_doc_count: Vec<(Script, Language, u64)> = Vec::new();
         let mut total = 0;
@@ -1433,7 +1400,7 @@ impl Index {
             let ((script, language), docids) = sl?;
 
             // keep only Languages that contains at least 1 document.
-            let remaining_documents_count = (docids - &soft_deleted_documents).len();
+            let remaining_documents_count = docids.len();
             total += remaining_documents_count;
             if remaining_documents_count > 0 {
                 script_language_doc_count.push((script, language, remaining_documents_count));
@@ -1918,7 +1885,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         2                        2
         3                        3
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 1, @r###"
         1   0  0      1  [0, ]
         1   0  1      1  [1, ]
@@ -1943,7 +1909,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         2                        6
         3                        3
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[0, 1, 2, ]");
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 2, @r###"
         1   0  0      1  [0, ]
         1   0  1      1  [1, 4, ]
@@ -1965,7 +1930,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         2                        6
         3                        3
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 3, @"[0, 1, 2, 3, ]");
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 3, @r###"
         1   0  0      1  [0, ]
         1   0  1      1  [1, 4, ]
@@ -1989,7 +1953,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         2                        6
         3                        7
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 3, @"[]");
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 3, @r###"
         0   0  0      1  [4, ]
         0   0  1      1  [5, ]
@@ -2052,7 +2015,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
             2                        2
             3                        3
             "###);
-            db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
             db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 1, @r###"
             1   0  0      1  [0, ]
             1   0  1      1  [1, ]
@@ -2085,7 +2047,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
             2                        6
             3                        3
             "###);
-            db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[0, 1, 2, ]");
             db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 1, @r###"
             1   0  0      1  [0, 4, ]
             1   0  1      1  [1, 5, ]
@@ -2153,7 +2114,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
             2                        9
             3                        3
             "###);
-            db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, ]");
             db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 1, @r###"
             1   0  0      1  [0, 4, 7, ]
             1   0  1      1  [1, 5, 8, ]
@@ -2221,7 +2181,7 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
             2                        12
             3                        3
             "###);
-            db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
+
             db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, 1, @r###"
             1   0  0      1  [10, ]
             1   0  3      1  [3, 11, ]
@@ -2291,7 +2251,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         34                       1
         38                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
 
         index.delete_document("34");
 
@@ -2302,7 +2261,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         34                       1
         38                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[1, ]");
 
         index
             .update_settings(|s| {
@@ -2318,7 +2276,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         hard:
         38                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 3, @"[]");
 
         // So that this document addition works correctly now.
         // It would be wrongly interpreted as a replacement before
@@ -2331,7 +2288,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         34                       1
         38                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 4, @"[]");
 
         // We do the test again, but deleting the document with id 0 instead of id 1 now
         index.delete_document("38");
@@ -2343,7 +2299,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         34                       1
         38                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 5, @"[0, ]");
 
         index
             .update_settings(|s| {
@@ -2357,7 +2312,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         hard:
         34                       1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 6, @"[]");
 
         // And adding lots of documents afterwards instead of just one.
         // These extra subtests don't add much, but it's better than nothing.
@@ -2374,7 +2328,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         41                       3
         42                       5
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 7, @"[]");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -2403,7 +2356,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         30                       0
         34                       1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
 
         index.delete_document("34");
 
@@ -2414,7 +2366,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         30                       0
         34                       1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[1, ]");
 
         index
             .update_settings(|s| {
@@ -2430,7 +2381,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         hard:
         30                       0
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 3, @"[]");
 
         // So that when we add a new document
         index.add_documents(documents!({ "primary_key": 35, "b": 2 })).unwrap();
@@ -2444,7 +2394,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         30                       0
         35                       1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 4, @"[]");
 
         // And when we add 34 again, we don't replace document 35
         index.add_documents(documents!({ "primary_key": 34, "a": 1 })).unwrap();
@@ -2458,7 +2407,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         34                       2
         35                       1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 5, @"[]");
 
         let rtxn = index.read_txn().unwrap();
         let (_docid, obkv) = index.documents(&rtxn, [0]).unwrap()[0];
@@ -2499,7 +2447,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         38                       4
         39                       5
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 6, @"[]");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -2530,7 +2477,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         4                        1
         5                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 1, @"[]");
 
         index.delete_document("3");
 
@@ -2542,7 +2488,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         4                        1
         5                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[0, ]");
 
         index.add_documents(documents!([{ "primary_key": "4", "a": 2 }])).unwrap();
 
@@ -2553,7 +2498,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         4                        3
         5                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[]");
 
         index
             .add_documents(documents!([
@@ -2569,7 +2513,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         4                        3
         5                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, 2, @"[]");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -2598,7 +2541,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         11                       0
         4                        1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, @"[]");
 
         index
             .add_documents(documents!([
@@ -2615,7 +2557,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         11                       0
         4                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, @"[1, ]");
 
         let mut wtxn = index.write_txn().unwrap();
         let mut delete = DeleteDocuments::new(&mut wtxn, &index).unwrap();
@@ -2630,7 +2571,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         11                       0
         4                        2
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, @"[]");
 
         index
             .add_documents(documents!([
@@ -2647,7 +2587,6 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
         11                       0
         4                        1
         "###);
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, @"[2, 3, ]");
 
         let rtxn = index.read_txn().unwrap();
         let search = Search::new(&rtxn, &index);
diff --git a/milli/src/search/facet/filter.rs b/milli/src/search/facet/filter.rs
index fac7b68ea..4d9bbc183 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/facet/filter.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/facet/filter.rs
@@ -223,12 +223,9 @@ impl<'a> Filter<'a> {
 impl<'a> Filter<'a> {
     pub fn evaluate(&self, rtxn: &heed::RoTxn, index: &Index) -> Result<RoaringBitmap> {
         // to avoid doing this for each recursive call we're going to do it ONCE ahead of time
-        let soft_deleted_documents = index.soft_deleted_documents_ids(rtxn)?;
         let filterable_fields = index.filterable_fields(rtxn)?;
 
-        // and finally we delete all the soft_deleted_documents, again, only once at the very end
         self.inner_evaluate(rtxn, index, &filterable_fields)
-            .map(|result| result - soft_deleted_documents)
     }
 
     fn evaluate_operator(
diff --git a/milli/src/snapshot_tests.rs b/milli/src/snapshot_tests.rs
index 77d9f41ec..c22038f81 100644
--- a/milli/src/snapshot_tests.rs
+++ b/milli/src/snapshot_tests.rs
@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ Create a snapshot test of the given database.
     - `facet_id_string_docids`
     - `documents_ids`
     - `stop_words`
-    - `soft_deleted_documents_ids`
     - `field_distribution`
     - `fields_ids_map`
     - `geo_faceted_documents_ids`
@@ -308,12 +307,6 @@ pub fn snap_stop_words(index: &Index) -> String {
     let snap = format!("{stop_words:?}");
     snap
 }
-pub fn snap_soft_deleted_documents_ids(index: &Index) -> String {
-    let rtxn = index.read_txn().unwrap();
-    let soft_deleted_documents_ids = index.soft_deleted_documents_ids(&rtxn).unwrap();
-
-    display_bitmap(&soft_deleted_documents_ids)
-}
 pub fn snap_field_distributions(index: &Index) -> String {
     let rtxn = index.read_txn().unwrap();
     let mut snap = String::new();
@@ -484,9 +477,6 @@ macro_rules! full_snap_of_db {
     ($index:ident, stop_words) => {{
         $crate::snapshot_tests::snap_stop_words(&$index)
     }};
-    ($index:ident, soft_deleted_documents_ids) => {{
-        $crate::snapshot_tests::snap_soft_deleted_documents_ids(&$index)
-    }};
     ($index:ident, field_distribution) => {{
         $crate::snapshot_tests::snap_field_distributions(&$index)
     }};
diff --git a/milli/src/update/available_documents_ids.rs b/milli/src/update/available_documents_ids.rs
index 784bee5a7..f460693ba 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/available_documents_ids.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/available_documents_ids.rs
@@ -8,16 +8,11 @@ pub struct AvailableDocumentsIds {
 }
 
 impl AvailableDocumentsIds {
-    pub fn from_documents_ids(
-        docids: &RoaringBitmap,
-        soft_deleted_docids: &RoaringBitmap,
-    ) -> AvailableDocumentsIds {
-        let used_docids = docids | soft_deleted_docids;
-
-        match used_docids.max() {
+    pub fn from_documents_ids(docids: &RoaringBitmap) -> AvailableDocumentsIds {
+        match docids.max() {
             Some(last_id) => {
                 let mut available = RoaringBitmap::from_iter(0..last_id);
-                available -= used_docids;
+                available -= docids;
 
                 let iter = match last_id.checked_add(1) {
                     Some(id) => id..=u32::max_value(),
@@ -50,7 +45,7 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn empty() {
         let base = RoaringBitmap::new();
-        let left = AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&base, &RoaringBitmap::new());
+        let left = AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&base);
         let right = 0..=u32::max_value();
         left.zip(right).take(500).for_each(|(l, r)| assert_eq!(l, r));
     }
@@ -63,28 +58,8 @@ mod tests {
         base.insert(100);
         base.insert(405);
 
-        let left = AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&base, &RoaringBitmap::new());
+        let left = AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&base);
         let right = (0..=u32::max_value()).filter(|&n| n != 0 && n != 10 && n != 100 && n != 405);
         left.zip(right).take(500).for_each(|(l, r)| assert_eq!(l, r));
     }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn soft_deleted() {
-        let mut base = RoaringBitmap::new();
-        base.insert(0);
-        base.insert(10);
-        base.insert(100);
-        base.insert(405);
-
-        let mut soft_deleted = RoaringBitmap::new();
-        soft_deleted.insert(1);
-        soft_deleted.insert(11);
-        soft_deleted.insert(101);
-        soft_deleted.insert(406);
-
-        let left = AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&base, &soft_deleted);
-        let right =
-            (0..=u32::max_value()).filter(|&n| ![0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 405, 406].contains(&n));
-        left.zip(right).take(500).for_each(|(l, r)| assert_eq!(l, r));
-    }
 }
diff --git a/milli/src/update/clear_documents.rs b/milli/src/update/clear_documents.rs
index 3eb7e0910..ca5f69808 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/clear_documents.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/clear_documents.rs
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ impl<'t, 'u, 'i> ClearDocuments<'t, 'u, 'i> {
         self.index.put_words_prefixes_fst(self.wtxn, &fst::Set::default())?;
         self.index.put_external_documents_ids(self.wtxn, &ExternalDocumentsIds::default())?;
         self.index.put_documents_ids(self.wtxn, &empty_roaring)?;
-        self.index.put_soft_deleted_documents_ids(self.wtxn, &empty_roaring)?;
         self.index.put_field_distribution(self.wtxn, &FieldDistribution::default())?;
         self.index.delete_geo_rtree(self.wtxn)?;
         self.index.delete_geo_faceted_documents_ids(self.wtxn)?;
diff --git a/milli/src/update/facet/mod.rs b/milli/src/update/facet/mod.rs
index 71e434599..70a5e24c8 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/facet/mod.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/facet/mod.rs
@@ -594,7 +594,6 @@ mod tests {
         index.add_documents(documents).unwrap();
 
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, "initial", @"777e0e221d778764b472c512617eeb3b");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "initial", @"[]");
 
         let mut documents = vec![];
         for i in 0..999 {
@@ -616,7 +615,6 @@ mod tests {
         index.add_documents(documents).unwrap();
 
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, "replaced_1_soft", @"abba175d7bed727d0efadaef85a4388f");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "replaced_1_soft", @"6c975deb900f286d2f6456d2d5c3a123");
 
         // Then replace the last document while disabling soft_deletion
         let mut documents = vec![];
@@ -639,7 +637,6 @@ mod tests {
         index.add_documents(documents).unwrap();
 
         db_snap!(index, facet_id_f64_docids, "replaced_2_hard", @"029e27a46d09c574ae949aa4289b45e6");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "replaced_2_hard", @"[]");
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/milli/src/update/index_documents/mod.rs b/milli/src/update/index_documents/mod.rs
index c8481bd48..864e13d04 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/index_documents/mod.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/index_documents/mod.rs
@@ -999,7 +999,6 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(count, 6);
 
         db_snap!(index, word_docids, "updated");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "updated", @"[0, 1, 4, ]");
 
         drop(rtxn);
     }
@@ -2649,8 +2648,6 @@ mod tests {
         0                        1
         "###);
 
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, @"[]");
-
         // BATCH 3
 
         println!("--- ENTERING BATCH 3");
diff --git a/milli/src/update/index_documents/transform.rs b/milli/src/update/index_documents/transform.rs
index e02da8cb5..872230d99 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/index_documents/transform.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/index_documents/transform.rs
@@ -132,17 +132,13 @@ impl<'a, 'i> Transform<'a, 'i> {
             indexer_settings.max_memory.map(|mem| mem / 2),
         );
         let documents_ids = index.documents_ids(wtxn)?;
-        let soft_deleted_documents_ids = index.soft_deleted_documents_ids(wtxn)?;
 
         Ok(Transform {
             index,
             fields_ids_map: index.fields_ids_map(wtxn)?,
             indexer_settings,
             autogenerate_docids,
-            available_documents_ids: AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(
-                &documents_ids,
-                &soft_deleted_documents_ids,
-            ),
+            available_documents_ids: AvailableDocumentsIds::from_documents_ids(&documents_ids),
             original_sorter,
             flattened_sorter,
             index_documents_method,
diff --git a/milli/src/update/prefix_word_pairs/mod.rs b/milli/src/update/prefix_word_pairs/mod.rs
index 7d77490bc..d6aa8e5a3 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/prefix_word_pairs/mod.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/prefix_word_pairs/mod.rs
@@ -508,7 +508,6 @@ mod tests {
         db_snap!(index, word_docids, "replaced");
         db_snap!(index, word_prefix_pair_proximity_docids, "replaced");
         db_snap!(index, prefix_word_pair_proximity_docids, "replaced");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "replaced", @"[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, ]");
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -568,6 +567,5 @@ mod tests {
         db_snap!(index, word_docids, "replaced");
         db_snap!(index, word_prefix_pair_proximity_docids, "replaced");
         db_snap!(index, prefix_word_pair_proximity_docids, "replaced");
-        db_snap!(index, soft_deleted_documents_ids, "replaced", @"[]");
     }
 }