[[indices-delete-index]]
=== Delete index API
++++
<titleabbrev>Delete index</titleabbrev>
++++

Deletes one or more indices.

[source,console]
----
DELETE /my-index-000001
----
// TEST[setup:my_index]

[[delete-index-api-request]]
==== {api-request-title}

`DELETE /<index>`

[[delete-index-api-prereqs]]
==== {api-prereq-title}

* If the {es} {security-features} are enabled, you must have the `delete_index`
or `manage` <<privileges-list-indices,index privilege>> for the target index.

[[delete-index-api-desc]]
==== {api-description-title}

Deleting an index deletes its documents, shards, and metadata. It does not
delete related {kib} components, such as {data-sources}, visualizations, or
dashboards.

You cannot delete the current write index of a data stream. To delete the
index, you must <<data-streams-rollover,roll over>> the data stream so a new
write index is created. You can then use the delete index API to delete the
previous write index.

[[delete-index-api-path-params]]
==== {api-path-parms-title}

`<index>`::
(Required, string) Comma-separated list of indices to delete. You cannot specify
<<aliases,index aliases>>.
+
By default, this parameter does not support wildcards (`*`) or `_all`. To use
wildcards or `_all`, set the
<<action-destructive-requires-name,`action.destructive_requires_name`>> cluster
setting to `false`.

[[delete-index-api-query-params]]
==== {api-query-parms-title}

include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=allow-no-indices]
+
Defaults to `true`.

include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=expand-wildcards]
+
Defaults to `open,closed`.

include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=index-ignore-unavailable]

include::{es-repo-dir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=timeoutparms]