diff --git a/src/components/App.tsx b/src/components/App.tsx
index 25d25a36..e927c7b1 100644
--- a/src/components/App.tsx
+++ b/src/components/App.tsx
@@ -654,8 +654,10 @@ class App extends React.Component<ExcalidrawProps, AppState> {
 
     if (isCollaborationScene) {
       // when joining a room we don't want user's local scene data to be merged
-      //  into the remote scene, so set `clearScene`
-      this.initializeSocketClient({ showLoadingState: true, clearScene: true });
+      //  into the remote scene
+      this.resetScene();
+
+      this.initializeSocketClient({ showLoadingState: true });
     } else if (scene) {
       if (scene.appState) {
         scene.appState = {
@@ -1256,6 +1258,14 @@ class App extends React.Component<ExcalidrawProps, AppState> {
       "Excalidraw",
       await generateCollaborationLink(),
     );
+    // remove deleted elements from elements array & history to ensure we don't
+    // expose potentially sensitive user data in case user manually deletes
+    // existing elements (or clears scene), which would otherwise be persisted
+    // to database even if deleted before creating the room.
+    history.clear();
+    history.resumeRecording();
+    this.scene.replaceAllElements(this.scene.getElements());
+
     this.initializeSocketClient({ showLoadingState: false });
   };
 
@@ -1365,14 +1375,11 @@ class App extends React.Component<ExcalidrawProps, AppState> {
 
   private initializeSocketClient = async (opts: {
     showLoadingState: boolean;
-    clearScene?: boolean;
   }) => {
     if (this.portal.socket) {
       return;
     }
-    if (opts.clearScene) {
-      this.resetScene();
-    }
+
     const roomMatch = getCollaborationLinkData(window.location.href);
     if (roomMatch) {
       const roomID = roomMatch[1];
diff --git a/src/tests/collab.test.tsx b/src/tests/collab.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ea952b55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/collab.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import React from "react";
+import { render, waitFor } from "./test-utils";
+import App from "../components/App";
+import { API } from "./helpers/api";
+import { createUndoAction } from "../actions/actionHistory";
+
+const { h } = window;
+
+Object.defineProperty(window, "crypto", {
+  value: {
+    getRandomValues: (arr: number[]) =>
+      arr.forEach((v, i) => (arr[i] = Math.floor(Math.random() * 256))),
+    subtle: {
+      generateKey: () => {},
+      exportKey: () => ({ k: "sTdLvMC_M3V8_vGa3UVRDg" }),
+    },
+  },
+});
+
+jest.mock("../data/firebase.ts", () => {
+  const loadFromFirebase = async () => null;
+  const saveToFirebase = () => {};
+  const isSavedToFirebase = () => true;
+
+  return {
+    loadFromFirebase,
+    saveToFirebase,
+    isSavedToFirebase,
+  };
+});
+
+describe("collaboration", () => {
+  it("creating room should reset deleted elements", async () => {
+    render(
+      <App
+        initialData={{
+          elements: [
+            API.createElement({ type: "rectangle", id: "A" }),
+            API.createElement({ type: "rectangle", id: "B", isDeleted: true }),
+          ],
+        }}
+      />,
+    );
+
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(h.elements).toEqual([
+        expect.objectContaining({ id: "A" }),
+        expect.objectContaining({ id: "B", isDeleted: true }),
+      ]);
+      expect(API.getStateHistory().length).toBe(1);
+    });
+
+    h.app.openPortal();
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(h.elements).toEqual([expect.objectContaining({ id: "A" })]);
+      expect(API.getStateHistory().length).toBe(1);
+    });
+
+    const undoAction = createUndoAction(h.history);
+    // noop
+    h.app.actionManager.executeAction(undoAction);
+    await waitFor(() => {
+      expect(h.elements).toEqual([expect.objectContaining({ id: "A" })]);
+      expect(API.getStateHistory().length).toBe(1);
+    });
+  });
+});