diff --git a/dvc/remote/base.py b/dvc/remote/base.py
index be5929fd21..f7586b8893 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/base.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/base.py
@@ -878,8 +878,8 @@ def _checkout_file(
         """The file is changed we need to checkout a new copy"""
         cache_info = self.checksum_to_path_info(checksum)
         if self.exists(path_info):
-            logger.warning(
-                "data '{}' exists. Removing before checkout.", path_info
+            logger.info(
+                "The file '{}' already exists. It will be replaced.", path_info
             )
             self.safe_remove(path_info, force=force)
 
diff --git a/dvc/repo/checkout.py b/dvc/repo/checkout.py
index 26f9e18e81..2d9c5de4e6 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/checkout.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/checkout.py
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ def _cleanup_unused_links(repo):
         for out in stage.outs
         if out.scheme == "local"
     ]
-    repo.state.remove_unused_links(used)
+
+    unused = repo.state.get_unused_links(used)
+    for link in unused:
+        logger.info(
+            "Removing '{}' as it already exists in the current worktree.", link
+        )
+    repo.state.remove_links(unused)
+    return bool(unused)
 
 
 def get_all_files_numbers(pairs):
@@ -34,9 +41,10 @@ def _checkout(
 ):
     from dvc.stage import StageFileDoesNotExistError, StageFileBadNameError
 
+    cleaned = False
     if not targets:
         targets = [None]
-        _cleanup_unused_links(self)
+        cleaned = _cleanup_unused_links(self)
 
     pairs = set()
     for target in targets:
@@ -52,7 +60,7 @@ def _checkout(
             raise CheckoutErrorSuggestGit(target) from exc
 
     total = get_all_files_numbers(pairs)
-    if total == 0:
+    if total == 0 and not cleaned:
         logger.info("Nothing to do")
     failed = []
     with Tqdm(
diff --git a/dvc/state.py b/dvc/state.py
index 6c9106d1e0..d54393aede 100644
--- a/dvc/state.py
+++ b/dvc/state.py
@@ -443,36 +443,37 @@ def save_link(self, path_info):
         )
         self._execute(cmd, (relative_path, self._to_sqlite(inode), mtime))
 
-    def remove_unused_links(self, used):
-        """Removes all saved links except the ones that are used.
+    def get_unused_links(self, used):
+        """Returns all saved links except the ones that are used.
 
         Args:
-            used (list): list of used links that should not be removed.
+            used (list): list of used links
         """
         unused = []
 
         self._execute("SELECT * FROM {}".format(self.LINK_STATE_TABLE))
         for row in self.cursor:
-            relpath, inode, mtime = row
+            relative_path, inode, mtime = row
             inode = self._from_sqlite(inode)
-            path = os.path.join(self.root_dir, relpath)
+            path = os.path.join(self.root_dir, relative_path)
 
-            if path in used:
-                continue
-
-            if not os.path.exists(path):
+            if path in used or not os.path.exists(path):
                 continue
 
             actual_inode = get_inode(path)
             actual_mtime, _ = get_mtime_and_size(path, self.repo.tree)
 
-            if inode == actual_inode and mtime == actual_mtime:
-                logger.debug("Removing '{}' as unused link.", path)
-                remove(path)
-                unused.append(relpath)
+            if (inode, mtime) == (actual_inode, actual_mtime):
+                unused.append(relative_path)
+
+        return unused
+
+    def remove_links(self, links):
+        for link in links:
+            remove(os.path.join(self.root_dir, link))
 
         for chunk_unused in to_chunks(
-            unused, chunk_size=SQLITE_MAX_VARIABLES_NUMBER
+            links, chunk_size=SQLITE_MAX_VARIABLES_NUMBER
         ):
             cmd = "DELETE FROM {} WHERE path IN ({})".format(
                 self.LINK_STATE_TABLE, ",".join(["?"] * len(chunk_unused))
diff --git a/tests/func/test_state.py b/tests/func/test_state.py
index 810338506c..8e841d8c55 100644
--- a/tests/func/test_state.py
+++ b/tests/func/test_state.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import mock
+import os
 
 from dvc.path_info import PathInfo
 from dvc.state import State
@@ -69,16 +70,33 @@ def test_get_state_record_for_inode(get_inode_mock, tmp_dir, dvc):
         assert ret is not None
 
 
-def test_remove_unused_links(tmp_dir, dvc):
-    assert len(tmp_dir.dvc_gen("foo", "foo_content")) == 1
-    assert len(tmp_dir.dvc_gen("bar", "bar_content")) == 1
+def test_remove_links(tmp_dir, dvc):
+    tmp_dir.dvc_gen({"foo": "foo_content", "bar": "bar_content"})
 
-    cmd_count_links = "SELECT count(*) FROM {}".format(State.LINK_STATE_TABLE)
     with dvc.state:
+        cmd_count_links = "SELECT count(*) FROM {}".format(
+            State.LINK_STATE_TABLE
+        )
         result = dvc.state._execute(cmd_count_links).fetchone()[0]
         assert result == 2
 
-        dvc.state.remove_unused_links([])
+        dvc.state.remove_links(["foo", "bar"])
 
         result = dvc.state._execute(cmd_count_links).fetchone()[0]
         assert result == 0
+
+
+def test_get_unused_links(tmp_dir, dvc):
+    tmp_dir.dvc_gen({"foo": "foo_content", "bar": "bar_content"})
+
+    with dvc.state:
+        links = [os.path.join(dvc.root_dir, link) for link in ["foo", "bar"]]
+        assert set(dvc.state.get_unused_links([])) == {"foo", "bar"}
+        assert set(dvc.state.get_unused_links(links[:1])) == {"bar"}
+        assert set(dvc.state.get_unused_links(links)) == set()
+        assert set(
+            dvc.state.get_unused_links(
+                used=links[:1]
+                + [os.path.join(dvc.root_dir, "not-existing-file")]
+            )
+        ) == {"bar"}