borg/docs/man/borg-delete.1

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.TH "BORG-DELETE" "1" "2025-04-18" "" "borg backup tool"
.SH NAME
borg-delete \- Delete an existing repository or archives
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
borg [common options] delete [options] [REPOSITORY_OR_ARCHIVE] [ARCHIVE...]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
This command deletes an archive from the repository or the complete repository.
.sp
Important: When deleting archives, repository disk space is \fBnot\fP freed until
you run \fBborg compact\fP\&.
.sp
When you delete a complete repository, the security info and local cache for it
(if any) are also deleted. Alternatively, you can delete just the local cache
with the \fB\-\-cache\-only\fP option, or keep the security info with the
\fB\-\-keep\-security\-info\fP option.
.sp
When in doubt, use \fB\-\-dry\-run \-\-list\fP to see what would be deleted.
.sp
When using \fB\-\-stats\fP, you will get some statistics about how much data was
deleted \- the \(dqDeleted data\(dq deduplicated size there is most interesting as
that is how much your repository will shrink.
Please note that the \(dqAll archives\(dq stats refer to the state after deletion.
.sp
You can delete multiple archives by specifying a shell pattern to match
multiple archives using the \fB\-\-glob\-archives GLOB\fP option (for more info on
these patterns, see \fIborg_patterns\fP).
.sp
To avoid accidentally deleting archives, especially when using glob patterns,
it might be helpful to use the \fB\-\-dry\-run\fP to test out the command without
actually making any changes to the repository.
.SH OPTIONS
.sp
See \fIborg\-common(1)\fP for common options of Borg commands.
.SS arguments
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B REPOSITORY_OR_ARCHIVE
repository or archive to delete
.TP
.B ARCHIVE
archives to delete
.UNINDENT
.SS options
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B  \-n\fP,\fB  \-\-dry\-run
do not change repository
.TP
.B  \-\-list
output verbose list of archives
.TP
.B  \-s\fP,\fB  \-\-stats
print statistics for the deleted archive
.TP
.B  \-\-cache\-only
delete only the local cache for the given repository
.TP
.B  \-\-force
force deletion of corrupted archives, use \fB\-\-force \-\-force\fP in case \fB\-\-force\fP does not work.
.TP
.B  \-\-keep\-security\-info
keep the local security info when deleting a repository
.TP
.B  \-\-save\-space
work slower, but using less space
.TP
.BI \-c \ SECONDS\fR,\fB \ \-\-checkpoint\-interval \ SECONDS
write checkpoint every SECONDS seconds (Default: 1800)
.UNINDENT
.SS Archive filters
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.BI \-P \ PREFIX\fR,\fB \ \-\-prefix \ PREFIX
only consider archive names starting with this prefix. (deprecated)
.TP
.BI \-a \ GLOB\fR,\fB \ \-\-glob\-archives \ GLOB
only consider archive names matching the glob. sh: rules apply (without actually using the sh: prefix), see \(dqborg help patterns\(dq.
.TP
.BI \-\-sort\-by \ KEYS
Comma\-separated list of sorting keys; valid keys are: timestamp, archive, name, id; default is: timestamp
.TP
.BI \-\-first \ N
consider first N archives after other filters were applied
.TP
.BI \-\-last \ N
consider last N archives after other filters were applied
.UNINDENT
.SH EXAMPLES
.INDENT 0.0
.INDENT 3.5
.sp
.EX
# delete a single backup archive:
$ borg delete /path/to/repo::Monday
# actually free disk space:
$ borg compact /path/to/repo

# delete all archives whose names begin with the machine\(aqs hostname followed by \(dq\-\(dq
$ borg delete \-\-glob\-archives \(aq{hostname}\-*\(aq /path/to/repo

# delete all archives whose names contain \(dq\-2012\-\(dq
$ borg delete \-\-glob\-archives \(aq*\-2012\-*\(aq /path/to/repo

# see what would be deleted if delete was run without \-\-dry\-run
$ borg delete \-\-list \-\-dry\-run \-a \(aq*\-May\-*\(aq /path/to/repo

# delete the whole repository and the related local cache:
$ borg delete /path/to/repo
You requested to completely DELETE the repository *including* all archives it contains:
repo                                 Mon, 2016\-02\-15 19:26:54
root\-2016\-02\-15                      Mon, 2016\-02\-15 19:36:29
newname                              Mon, 2016\-02\-15 19:50:19
Type \(aqYES\(aq if you understand this and want to continue: YES
.EE
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
\fIborg\-common(1)\fP, \fIborg\-compact(1)\fP
.SH AUTHOR
The Borg Collective
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