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Elastic Docs ›Elasticsearch Guide [7.9] ›REST APIs ›Index APIs
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Delete index APIedit

Deletes an existing index.

DELETE /my-index-000001

Requestedit

DELETE /<index>

Path parametersedit

<index>

(Request, string) Comma-separated list or wildcard expression of indices to delete.

In this parameter, wildcard expressions match only open, concrete indices. You cannot delete an index using an alias.

To delete all indices, use _all or * . To disallow the deletion of indices with _all or wildcard expressions, change the action.destructive_requires_name cluster setting to true. You can update this setting in the elasticsearch.yml file or using the cluster update settings API.

You cannot delete the current write index of a data stream. To delete the index, you must 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.

Query parametersedit

allow_no_indices

(Optional, Boolean) If false, the request returns an error when a wildcard expression, index alias, or _all value targets only missing or closed indices.

Defaults to true.

expand_wildcards

(Optional, string) Controls what kind of indices that wildcard expressions can expand to. Multiple values are accepted when separated by a comma, as in open,hidden. Valid values are:

all
Expand to open and closed indices, including hidden indices.
open
Expand only to open indices.
closed
Expand only to closed indices.
hidden
Expansion of wildcards will include hidden indices. Must be combined with open, closed, or both.
none
Wildcard expressions are not accepted.

Defaults to open.

ignore_unavailable
(Optional, Boolean) If false, the request returns an error if it targets a missing or closed index. Defaults to false.
master_timeout
(Optional, time units) Specifies the period of time to wait for a connection to the master node. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error. Defaults to 30s.
timeout
(Optional, time units) Specifies the period of time to wait for a response. If no response is received before the timeout expires, the request fails and returns an error. Defaults to 30s.
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