# Delete a backup

```bash curl theme={null}
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
BACKUP_ID="9947520e-d5a1-4418-a78d-9f464c9969da"

curl -X DELETE "https://api.pinecone.io/backups/$BACKUP_ID" \
    -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
    -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07"
```

`DELETE /backups/{backup_id}`

:::code-group
```bash title="cURL"
curl --request DELETE \
  --url https://api.pinecone.io/backups/{backup_id} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'
```

```json title="403"
{
  "error": {
    "code": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
    "message": "Index name must contain only lowercase alphanumeric characters or hyphens, and must not begin or end with a hyphen."
  },
  "status": 400
}
```
:::

## Authorizations

- `Authorization` (header, string, required) — Bearer authentication header of the form `Bearer <token>`.

## Path Parameters

- `backup_id` (path, string, required) — The ID of the backup to delete.

## Headers

- `X-Pinecone-Api-Version` (header, string, required) — Required date-based version header

## Response

- `202` — The request to delete the backup has been accepted.
- `401` — Unauthorized. Possible causes: missing or invalid API key.
- `403` — Forbidden. The API key or principal is authenticated but lacks the permission required for this operation. Grant the required permission to the key's role, or use a key that already holds it.
- `404` — Backup not found.
- `500` — Internal server error.

## Related pages

- [Create a backup of an index](./database-2026-07-control-plane-create-backup.md)
- [List backups for all indexes in a project](./database-2026-07-control-plane-list-project-backups.md)
- [List backups for an index](./database-2026-07-control-plane-list-index-backups.md)
- [Describe a backup](./database-2026-07-control-plane-describe-backup.md)
- [Create an index from a backup](./database-2026-07-control-plane-create-index-from-backup.md)
- [List restore jobs](./database-2026-07-control-plane-list-restore-jobs.md)
- [Describe a restore job](./database-2026-07-control-plane-describe-restore-job.md)
- [List collections](./database-2026-07-control-plane-list-collections.md)
- [Create a collection](./database-2026-07-control-plane-create-collection.md)
- [Describe a collection](./database-2026-07-control-plane-describe-collection.md)

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