Deleting multiple objects - Amazon Simple Storage Service
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Deleting multiple objects

Because all objects in your S3 bucket incur storage costs, you should delete objects that you no longer need. For example, if you are collecting log files, it's a good idea to delete them when they're no longer needed. You can set up a lifecycle rule to automatically delete objects such as log files. For more information, see Setting an S3 Lifecycle configuration on a bucket.

For information about Amazon S3 features and pricing, see Amazon S3 pricing.

You can use the Amazon S3 console, Amazon SDKs, or the REST API to delete multiple objects simultaneously from an S3 bucket.

Follow these steps to use the Amazon S3 console to delete multiple objects from a bucket.

Warning

  • Deleting a specified object cannot be undone.

  • This action deletes all specified objects. When deleting folders, wait for the delete action to finish before adding new objects to the folder. Otherwise, new objects might be deleted as well.

  • When deleting objects in a bucket without versioning enabled, including directory buckets, Amazon S3 will permanently delete the objects.

  • When deleting objects in a bucket with bucket versioning enabled or suspended, Amazon S3 creates delete markers. For more information, see Working with delete markers.

To delete objects that have versioning enabled or suspended
Note

If the version IDs for the object in a versioning-suspended bucket are marked as NULL, S3 permanently deletes the objects since no previous versions exist. However, if a valid version ID is listed for the objects in a versioning-suspended bucket, then S3 creates delete markers for the deleted objects, while retaining the previous versions of the objects.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Amazon S3 console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/s3/.

  2. In the left navigation pane, choose General purpose buckets.

  3. In the bucket list, choose the name of the bucket that you want to delete the objects from.

  4. Select the objects and then choose Delete.

  5. To confirm deletion of the objects list under Specified objects in the Delete objects? text box, enter delete.

To permanently delete specific object versions in a versioning-enabled bucket
Warning

When you permanently delete specific object versions in Amazon S3, the deletion can't be undone.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Amazon S3 console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/s3/.

  2. In the left navigation pane, choose General purpose buckets.

  3. In the bucket list, choose the name of the bucket that you want to delete the objects from.

  4. Select the objects that you want to delete.

  5. Choose the Show versions toggle.

  6. Select the object versions and then choose Delete.

  7. To confirm permanent deletion of the specific object versions listed under Specified objects, in the Delete objects? text box, enter Permanently delete. Amazon S3 permanently deletes the specific object versions.

To permanently delete the objects in an Amazon S3 bucket that don't have versioning enabled
Warning

When you permanently delete an object in Amazon S3, the deletion can't be undone. Also, for any buckets without versioning enabled, including directory buckets, deletions are permanent.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the Amazon S3 console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/s3/.

  2. In the left navigation pane, choose General purpose buckets or Directory buckets.

  3. In the bucket list, choose the name of the bucket that you want to delete the objects from.

  4. Select the objects and then choose Delete.

  5. To confirm permanent deletion of the objects listed under Specified objects, in the Delete objects? text box, enter permanently delete.

Note

If you're experiencing any issues with deleting your objects, see I want to permanently delete versioned objects.

For examples of how to delete multiple objects with the Amazon SDKs, see Code examples in the Amazon S3 API Reference.

For general information about using different Amazon SDKs, see Developing with Amazon S3 using the Amazon SDKs in the Amazon S3 API Reference.

You can use the Amazon SDKs to delete multiple objects using the Multi-Object Delete API. However, if your application requires it, you can send REST requests directly.

For more information, see Delete Multiple Objects in the Amazon Simple Storage Service API Reference.