diff --git a/craft/src/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.ts b/craft/src/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.ts
index 9096c8e..b920f5a 100644
--- a/craft/src/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.ts
+++ b/craft/src/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useEditor } from '@craftjs/core';
+import { findDeletableTarget } from '../utils/craft-helpers';
 
 function isInputFocused(): boolean {
   const el = document.activeElement;
@@ -52,10 +53,8 @@ export function useKeyboardShortcuts() {
         try {
           const selected = query.getEvent('selected').all();
           if (selected.length > 0) {
-            const nodeId = selected[0];
-            if (nodeId !== 'ROOT') {
-              actions.delete(nodeId);
-            }
+            const target = findDeletableTarget(query, selected[0]);
+            if (target) actions.delete(target);
           }
         } catch (err) {
           console.error('Delete failed:', err);
diff --git a/craft/src/panels/context-menu/ContextMenu.tsx b/craft/src/panels/context-menu/ContextMenu.tsx
index 98c9ef8..abcefd8 100644
--- a/craft/src/panels/context-menu/ContextMenu.tsx
+++ b/craft/src/panels/context-menu/ContextMenu.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React, { useEffect, useCallback, useRef } from 'react';
 import { useEditor } from '@craftjs/core';
+import { findDeletableTarget } from '../../utils/craft-helpers';
 
 interface ContextMenuProps {
   visible: boolean;
@@ -143,14 +144,18 @@ export const ContextMenu: React.FC<ContextMenuProps> = ({
   }, [nodeId, actions, getParentId, onClose]);
 
   const deleteNode = useCallback(() => {
-    if (!nodeId || nodeId === 'ROOT') return;
+    const target = findDeletableTarget(query, nodeId);
+    if (!target) {
+      onClose();
+      return;
+    }
     try {
-      actions.delete(nodeId);
+      actions.delete(target);
     } catch (e) {
       console.error('Delete failed:', e);
     }
     onClose();
-  }, [nodeId, actions, onClose]);
+  }, [nodeId, actions, query, onClose]);
 
   if (!visible) return null;
 
diff --git a/craft/src/utils/craft-helpers.ts b/craft/src/utils/craft-helpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d283aa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/craft/src/utils/craft-helpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/**
+ * Find the actual deletable target for a node. Linked nodes (owned by parent
+ * components like ColumnLayout columns or Section inner) are structurally
+ * non-deletable in Craft.js — actions.delete() throws on them. When the
+ * selected node is an empty linked node and all its linked siblings are also
+ * empty (i.e., the whole layout is empty), redirect deletion to the owning
+ * parent so the layout itself goes away. Otherwise return null to refuse
+ * deletion — protects against nuking a layout that has content in other cols.
+ */
+export function findDeletableTarget(query: any, nodeId: string | null | undefined): string | null {
+  if (!nodeId || nodeId === 'ROOT') return null;
+  try {
+    const node = query.node(nodeId).get();
+    const parentId: string | null | undefined = node?.data?.parent;
+    if (!parentId) return nodeId;
+    const parent = query.node(parentId).get();
+    const linkedIds = Object.values((parent?.data?.linkedNodes || {}) as Record<string, string>);
+    if (!linkedIds.includes(nodeId)) return nodeId;
+    const allEmpty = linkedIds.every((id) => {
+      const sib = query.node(id).get();
+      return ((sib?.data?.nodes as string[] | undefined) || []).length === 0;
+    });
+    if (!allEmpty) return null;
+    return findDeletableTarget(query, parentId);
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}