This page shows you how to delete the data in an index [namespace](/guides/index-data-indexing-overview#namespaces). The kind of index determines which operation you use. An index with a [document schema](/guides/index-data-search-full-text-search#schema-definition) uses the Documents API, and a vector index uses the [Vectors API](/guides/database-2026-07-data-plane-delete). If you aren't sure which kind of index you have, see [Adopt the Documents API](/guides/index-data-adopt-the-documents-api).

- **[Delete documents](#delete-documents)**: Delete documents by ID, by metadata filter, or delete every document in the namespace.
- **[Delete records](#delete-records-by-id)**: The same three options for a vector index.

:::callout{intent="tip"}
Deletes consume [write units (WUs)](/guides/manage-cost-understanding-cost#write-units). See [Understanding cost](/guides/manage-cost-understanding-cost#delete) for how delete cost is calculated.
:::

## Delete documents

In an index with a document schema, delete documents by ID, by metadata filter, or delete the whole namespace's contents. A request specifies exactly one of `ids`, `filter`, or `delete_all`, and can name up to 1,000 IDs.

### Delete documents by ID

To delete specific documents, pass their IDs:

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# pip install --upgrade pinecone
from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# To get the unique host for an index,
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
index = pc.Index(host="INDEX_HOST")

index.documents.delete(namespace="articles", ids=["doc-1", "doc-2"])
```

```bash curl theme={null}
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"

curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/namespaces/articles/documents/delete" \
    -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
    -d '{
            "ids": ["doc-1", "doc-2"]
        }'
```
:::

### Delete documents by metadata

To delete every document matching a [metadata filter expression](/guides/index-data-indexing-overview#metadata-filter-expressions), pass a `filter`. The response reports how many documents matched:

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# Connect to an index as shown above.
response = index.documents.delete(
    namespace="articles",
    filter={"category": {"$eq": "news"}},
)
print(response.matched_records)
```

```bash curl theme={null}
curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/namespaces/articles/documents/delete" \
    -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
    -d '{
            "filter": { "category": { "$eq": "news" } }
        }'
```
:::

```json theme={null}
{
    "matched_records": 6
}
```

### Delete all documents in a namespace

To empty a namespace without deleting the namespace itself, pass `delete_all`:

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# Connect to an index as shown above.
index.documents.delete(namespace="articles", delete_all=True)
```

```bash curl theme={null}
curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/namespaces/articles/documents/delete" \
    -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
    -d '{
            "delete_all": true
        }'
```
:::

A delete by ID and a `delete_all` return an empty response body. Only a filtered delete reports `matched_records`.

:::callout{intent="note"}
[Text-match operators](/guides/index-data-search-filter-by-metadata#text-match-filters) (`$match_phrase`, `$match_all`, `$match_any`) aren't supported in a filtered delete, and a request carrying one is rejected with a `400`. To delete documents by text match, [search](/guides/index-data-search-full-text-search) for them first and delete the IDs the search returns.
:::

For the full request and response schema, see [Delete documents](/guides/database-2026-07-data-plane-delete-documents).

## Delete records

In a vector index, delete records by ID, by metadata filter, or delete every record in the namespace.

### Delete records by ID

Since Pinecone records can always be efficiently accessed using their ID, deleting by ID is the most efficient way to remove specific records from a namespace.

:::callout{intent="note"}
To remove records from the default namespace, specify `"__default__"` as the namespace in your request.
:::

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# pip install "pinecone[grpc]"
from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# To get the unique host for an index, 
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
index = pc.Index(host="INDEX_HOST")

index.delete(ids=["id-1", "id-2"], namespace='example-namespace')
```

```JavaScript JavaScript theme={null}
import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY" })

// To get the unique host for an index, 
// see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
const index = pc.index("INDEX_NAME", "INDEX_HOST")

const ns = index.namespace('example-namespace')
// Delete one record by ID.
await ns.deleteOne('id-1');
// Delete more than one record by ID.
await ns.deleteMany(['id-2', 'id-3']);
```

```java Java theme={null}
import io.pinecone.clients.Index;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConfig;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConnection;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class DeleteExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        PineconeConfig config = new PineconeConfig("YOUR_API_KEY");
        // To get the unique host for an index, 
        // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
        config.setHost("INDEX_HOST");
        PineconeConnection connection = new PineconeConnection(config);
        Index index = new Index(connection, "INDEX_NAME");
        List<String> ids = Arrays.asList("id-1", "id-2");
        index.deleteByIds(ids, "example-namespace");
    }
}
```

```go Go theme={null}
package main

import (
    "context"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    // To get the unique host for an index, 
    // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
    idxConnection, err := pc.Index(pinecone.NewIndexConnParams{Host: "INDEX_HOST", Namespace: "example-namespace"})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create IndexConnection for Host: %v", err)
  	}

    id1 := "id-1"
    id2 := "id-2"

    err = idxConnection.DeleteVectorsById(ctx, []string{id1, id2})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to delete vector with ID %v: %v", id, err)
    }
}
```

```bash curl theme={null}
# To get the unique host for an index,
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"

curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/vectors/delete" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -d '{
    "ids": [
      "id-1", 
      "id-2"
    ],
    "namespace": "example-namespace"
  }
'
```
:::

### Delete records by metadata

To delete records from a namespace based on their metadata values, pass a [metadata filter expression](/guides/index-data-indexing-overview#metadata-filter-expressions) to the `delete` operation. This deletes all records in the namespace that match the filter expression.

For example, the following code deletes all records with a `genre` field set to `documentary` from namespace `example-namespace`:

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# pip install "pinecone[grpc]"
from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# To get the unique host for an index, 
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
index = pc.Index(host="INDEX_HOST")

index.delete(
    filter={
        "genre": {"$eq": "documentary"}
    },
    namespace="example-namespace" 
)
```

```JavaScript JavaScript theme={null}
import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY" })

// To get the unique host for an index, 
// see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
const index = pc.index("INDEX_NAME", "INDEX_HOST")

const ns = index.namespace('example-namespace')

await ns.deleteMany({
  genre: { $eq: "documentary" },
});
```

```java Java theme={null}
import com.google.protobuf.Struct;
import com.google.protobuf.Value;
import io.pinecone.clients.Index;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConfig;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConnection;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class DeleteExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        PineconeConfig config = new PineconeConfig("YOUR_API_KEY");
        // To get the unique host for an index, 
        // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
        config.setHost("INDEX_HOST");
        PineconeConnection connection = new PineconeConnection(config);
        Index index = new Index(connection, "INDEX_NAME");
        Struct filter = Struct.newBuilder()
                .putFields("genre", Value.newBuilder()
                        .setStructValue(Struct.newBuilder()
                                .putFields("$eq", Value.newBuilder()
                                        .setStringValue("documentary")
                                        .build()))
                        .build())
                .build();
        index.deleteByFilter(filter, "example-namespace");

    }
}
```

```go Go theme={null}
package main

import (
    "context"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    // To get the unique host for an index, 
    // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
    idxConnection, err := pc.Index(pinecone.NewIndexConnParams{Host: "INDEX_HOST", Namespace: "example-namespace"})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create IndexConnection for Host: %v", err)
  	}

    metadataFilter := map[string]interface{}{
		"genre": map[string]interface{}{
			"$eq": "documentary",
		},
    }

    filter, err := structpb.NewStruct(metadataFilter)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create metadata filter: %v", err)
    }

    err = idxConnection.DeleteVectorsByFilter(ctx, filter)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to delete vector(s) with filter %+v: %v", filter, err)
    }
}
```

```bash curl theme={null}
# To get the unique host for an index,
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"

curl -i "https://$INDEX_HOST/vectors/delete" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -d '{
    "filter": {"genre": {"$eq": "documentary"}},
    "namespace": "example-namespace"
  }'
```
:::

### Delete all records in a namespace

To delete all of the records in a namespace but not the namespace itself, provide a `namespace` parameter and specify the appropriate `deleteAll` parameter for your SDK. To target the default namespace, set `namespace` to `"__default__"`.

:::code-group
```Python Python theme={null}
# pip install "pinecone[grpc]"
from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# To get the unique host for an index, 
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
index = pc.Index(host="INDEX_HOST")

index.delete(delete_all=True, namespace='example-namespace')
```

```JavaScript JavaScript theme={null}
import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY" })

// To get the unique host for an index, 
// see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
const index = pc.index("INDEX_NAME", "INDEX_HOST")

await index.namespace('example-namespace').deleteAll();
```

```java Java theme={null}
import io.pinecone.clients.Index;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConfig;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConnection;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class DeleteExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        PineconeConfig config = new PineconeConfig("YOUR_API_KEY");
        // To get the unique host for an index, 
        // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
        config.setHost("INDEX_HOST");
        PineconeConnection connection = new PineconeConnection(config);
        Index index = new Index(connection, "INDEX_NAME");
        index.deleteAll("example-namespace");
    }
}
```

```go Go theme={null}
package main

import (
    "context"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    // To get the unique host for an index, 
    // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
    idxConnection, err := pc.Index(pinecone.NewIndexConnParams{Host: "INDEX_HOST", Namespace: "example-namespace"})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create IndexConnection for Host: %v", err)
  	}

    err = idxConnection.DeleteAllVectorsInNamespace(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to delete all vectors in namespace %v: %v", namespace, err)
    }
}
```

```bash curl theme={null}
# To get the unique host for an index,
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"

curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/vectors/delete" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -d '{
    "deleteAll": true,
    "namespace": "example-namespace"
  }
'
```
:::

## Delete an entire namespace

To delete an entire namespace and all of its records, see [Delete a namespace](/guides/manage-data-manage-namespaces#delete-a-namespace).

## Delete an entire index

To remove all records from an index, [delete the index](/guides/manage-data-manage-indexes#delete-an-index) and [recreate it](/guides/index-data-create-an-index).

## Vector delete limits

These limits apply to the Vectors API. For an index with a document schema, see [Delete documents](#delete-documents).

### Delete by ID limits

| Metric              | Limit                                          |
| :------------------ | :--------------------------------------------- |
| Max IDs per request | 1000 IDs                                       |
| Max request rate    | 5000 records per second per index or namespace |

### Delete by metadata limits

| Metric           | Limit                                                                    |
| :--------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Max request rate | 5 requests per second per namespace<br>500 requests per second per index |

## Data freshness

Pinecone is eventually consistent, so there can be a slight delay before new or changed records are visible to queries. You can view index stats to [check data freshness](/guides/index-data-check-data-freshness).

## Related pages

- [Account management](./account-management-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-2-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-index.md)
- [APIs](./apis-index.md)
- [Architecture](./architecture-index.md)
- [Assistants](./assistants-index.md)
- [Bring Your Own Cloud](./bring-your-own-cloud-index.md)
- [Build an assistant](./build-an-assistant-index.md)
- [Build an integration](./build-an-integration-index.md)
- [Changelog](./changelog-index.md)

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