This page shows you how to delete objects from your buckets in Cloud Storage. For an overview of objects, read the Key Terms.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites can vary based on the tool used:
Console
In order to complete this guide using the Google Cloud console, you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the object you want to delete exists in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions.
For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see IAM permissions for the Google Cloud console.
For a list of relevant roles, see Cloud Storage roles. Alternatively, you can create a custom role that has specific, limited permissions.
Command line
In order to complete this guide using a command-line utility, you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the object you want to delete exists in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions.
For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see IAM permissions for gsutil commands.
For a list of relevant roles, see Cloud Storage roles. Alternatively, you can create a custom role that has specific, limited permissions.
Code samples
In order to complete this guide using the Cloud Storage client libraries, you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the object you want to delete exists in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions. Unless otherwise noted, client library requests are made through the JSON API.
For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see IAM permissions for JSON methods.
For a list of relevant roles, see Cloud Storage roles. Alternatively, you can create a custom role that has specific, limited permissions.
REST APIs
JSON API
In order to complete this guide using the JSON API, you must have the proper IAM permissions. If the object you want to delete exists in a project that you did not create, you might need the project owner to give you a role that contains the necessary permissions.
For a list of permissions required for specific actions, see IAM permissions for JSON methods.
For a list of relevant roles, see Cloud Storage roles. Alternatively, you can create a custom role that has specific, limited permissions.
Delete an object
Complete the following steps to delete objects from one of your Cloud Storage buckets:
Console
- In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud Storage Browser page.
In the list of buckets, click on the name of the bucket that contains the objects you want to delete.
The Bucket details page opens, with the Objects tab selected.
Navigate to the objects, which may be located in a folder.
Click the checkbox for each object you want to delete.
You can also click the checkbox for folders, which will delete all objects contained in that folder.
Click the Delete button.
Click Delete in the dialog that appears.
If you delete many objects at once, you can track deletion progress by clicking the Notifications icon in the Google Cloud console. The Google Cloud console can bulk delete up to several million objects and does so in the background.
To learn how to get detailed error information about failed operations in the Cloud Storage browser, see Troubleshooting.
Command line
gcloud
Use the Google Cloud CLI command gcloud alpha storage rm
:
gcloud alpha storage rm gs://BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME
Where:
BUCKET_NAME
is the name of the bucket containing the object you want to delete. For example,my-bucket
.OBJECT_NAME
is the name of the object you want to delete. For example,pets/dog.png
.
If successful, the response looks like the following example:
Operation completed over 1 objects.
gsutil
Use the gsutil rm
command:
gsutil rm gs://BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME
Where:
BUCKET_NAME
is the name of the bucket containing the object you want to delete. For example,my-bucket
.OBJECT_NAME
is the name of the object you want to delete. For example,pets/dog.png
.
If successful, the response looks like the following example:
Operation completed over 1 objects.
Code samples
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage C# API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage Go API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage Java API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage Python API reference documentation.
For more information, see the
Cloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.
C++
C#
Go
Java
Node.js
PHP
Python
Ruby
REST APIs
JSON API
- Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials. For instructions, see API authentication.
Use
cURL
to call the JSON API with aDELETE
request:curl -X DELETE \ -H "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH2_TOKEN" \ "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/o/OBJECT_NAME"
Where:
OAUTH2_TOKEN
is the name of the access token you generated in Step 1.BUCKET_NAME
is the name of the bucket containing the object you want to delete. For example,my-bucket
.OBJECT_NAME
is the URL-encoded name of the object you want to delete. For example,pets/dog.png
, URL-encoded aspets%2Fdog.png
.
XML API
- Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials. For instructions, see API authentication.
Use
cURL
to call the XML API with aDELETE Object
request:curl -X DELETE \ -H "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH2_TOKEN" \ "https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME"
Where:
OAUTH2_TOKEN
is the name of the access token you generated in Step 1.BUCKET_NAME
is the name of the bucket containing the object you want to delete. For example,my-bucket
.OBJECT_NAME
is the URL-encoded name of the object you want to delete. For example,pets/dog.png
, URL-encoded aspets%2Fdog.png
.
Delete objects in bulk
If you want to bulk delete a hundred thousand or more objects, avoid using gsutil, as the process takes a long time to complete. Instead, use the Google Cloud console, which can delete up to several million objects, or Object Lifecycle Management, which can delete any number of objects.
To bulk delete objects in your bucket using Object Lifecycle
Management, set a lifecycle configuration rule on your bucket where the
condition has Age
set to 0 days, and the action is set to delete
.
What's next
- Learn about the Object Versioning feature.
- Learn about the Object Lifecycle Management feature.
- Learn how to delete a bucket.