How can I update .RData?

Question

After reading this question I attempted to clean out my workspace and found that each time I opened R all the original items I had recently removed were restored. I then checked .RData and found that it had not been modified in a few weeks even though I repeatedly saved the workspace image. How often is .RData updated and how can I change when .RData is updated so that it reflects more recent changes?

Answer 1

It gets modified if and when you

1. use save.image()
2. use q() and answer yes

Otherwise it does not get changed.

My personal preference is to explicitly load and save data I want to cache across sessions or for further analysis.