delete

Definition

delete

The delete command removes documents from a collection. A single delete command can contain multiple delete specifications. The delete methods provided by the MongoDB drivers use this command internally.

Changed in version 5.0.

Tip

In mongosh, this command can also be run through the deleteOne(), deleteMany(), and findOneAndDelete() helper methods.

Helper methods are convenient for mongosh users, but they may not return the same level of information as database commands. In cases where the convenience is not needed or the additional return fields are required, use the database command.

Returns:	A document that contains the status of the operation. See Output for details.

Compatibility

This command is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

• MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

• MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB

• MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB

Syntax

The delete command has the following syntax:

{
   delete: <collection>,
   deletes: [
      {
         q : <query>,
         limit : <integer>,
         collation: <document>,
         hint: <document|string>
      },
      ...
   ],
   comment: <any>,
   let: <document>, // Added in MongoDB 5.0
   ordered: <boolean>,
   writeConcern: { <write concern> },
   maxTimeMS: <integer>
}

The command takes the following fields:

{
  <variable_name_1>: <expression_1>,
  ...,
  <variable_name_n>: <expression_n>
}

Each element of the deletes array contains the following fields:

collation: {
   locale: <string>,
   caseLevel: <boolean>,
   caseFirst: <string>,
   strength: <int>,
   numericOrdering: <boolean>,
   alternate: <string>,
   maxVariable: <string>,
   backwards: <boolean>
}

Behavior

Examples

db.runCommand(
   {
      delete: "orders",
      deletes: [ { q: { status: "D" }, limit: 1 } ]
   }
)

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 1 }

db.runCommand(
   {
      delete: "orders",
      deletes: [ { q: { status: "D" }, limit: 0 } ],
      writeConcern: { w: "majority", wtimeout: 5000 }
   }
)

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 13 }

db.runCommand(
   {
      delete: "orders",
      deletes: [ { q: { }, limit: 0 } ],
      writeConcern: { w: "majority", wtimeout: 5000 }
   }
)

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 35 }

db.runCommand(
   {
      delete: "orders",
      deletes: [
         { q: { status: "D" }, limit: 0 },
         { q: { cust_num: 99999, item: "abc123", status: "A" }, limit: 1 }
      ],
      ordered: false,
      writeConcern: { w: 1 }
   }
)

{ "ok" : 1, "n" : 21 }

{ _id: 1, category: "café", status: "A" }
{ _id: 2, category: "cafe", status: "a" }
{ _id: 3, category: "cafE", status: "a" }

db.runCommand({
   delete: "myColl",
   deletes: [
     { q: { category: "cafe", status: "a" }, limit: 0, collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } }
   ]
})

db.members.insertMany([
   { "_id" : 1, "member" : "abc123", "status" : "P", "points" :  0,  "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null },
   { "_id" : 2, "member" : "xyz123", "status" : "A", "points" : 60,  "misc1" : "reminder: ping me at 100pts", "misc2" : "Some random comment" },
   { "_id" : 3, "member" : "lmn123", "status" : "P", "points" :  0,  "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null },
   { "_id" : 4, "member" : "pqr123", "status" : "D", "points" : 20,  "misc1" : "Deactivated", "misc2" : null },
   { "_id" : 5, "member" : "ijk123", "status" : "P", "points" :  0,  "misc1" : null, "misc2" : null },
   { "_id" : 6, "member" : "cde123", "status" : "A", "points" : 86,  "misc1" : "reminder: ping me at 100pts", "misc2" : "Some random comment" }
])

db.members.createIndex( { status: 1 } )
db.members.createIndex( { points: 1 } )

db.runCommand({
   delete: "members",
   deletes: [
     { q: { "points": { $lte: 20 }, "status": "P" }, limit: 0, hint: { status: 1 } }
   ]
})

db.runCommand(
   {
     explain: {
       delete: "members",
       deletes: [
         { q: { "points": { $lte: 20 }, "status": "P" }, limit: 0, hint: { status: 1 } }
       ]
     },
     verbosity: "queryPlanner"
   }
)

db.cakeFlavors.insertMany( [
   { _id: 1, flavor: "chocolate" },
   { _id: 2, flavor: "strawberry" },
   { _id: 3, flavor: "cherry" }
] )

db.runCommand( {
   delete: db.cakeFlavors.getName(),
   deletes: [ {
      q: { $expr: { $eq: [ "$flavor", "$$targetFlavor" ] } },
      limit: 1
   } ],
   let : { targetFlavor: "strawberry" }
} )

Output

The returned document contains a subset of the following fields:

delete.ok

The status of the command.

delete.n

The number of documents deleted.

delete.writeErrors

An array of documents that contains information regarding any error encountered during the delete operation. The writeErrors array contains an error document for each delete statement that errors.

Each error document contains the following information:

delete.writeErrors.index

An integer that identifies the delete statement in the deletes array, which uses a zero-based index.

delete.writeErrors.code

An integer value identifying the error.

delete.writeErrors.errmsg

A description of the error.

delete.writeConcernError

Document that describe error related to write concern and contains the fields:

delete.writeConcernError.code

An integer value identifying the cause of the write concern error.

delete.writeConcernError.errmsg

A description of the cause of the write concern error.

delete.writeConcernError.errInfo.writeConcern

The write concern object used for the corresponding operation. For information on write concern object fields, see Write Concern Specification.

The write concern object may also contain the following field, indicating the source of the write concern:

delete.writeConcernError.errInfo.writeConcern.provenance

A string value indicating where the write concern originated (known as write concern provenance). The following table shows the possible values for this field and their significance:

Provenance	Description
clientSupplied	The write concern was specified in the application.
customDefault	The write concern originated from a custom defined default value. See setDefaultRWConcern.
getLastErrorDefaults	The write concern originated from the replica set's settings.getLastErrorDefaults field.
implicitDefault	The write concern originated from the server in absence of all other write concern specifications.

The following is an example document returned for a successful delete command:

{ ok: 1, n: 1 }

The following is an example document returned for a delete command that encountered an error because it specified a non-existent index in the hint field:

{
  n: 0,
  writeErrors: [
    {
      index: 0,
      code: 2,
      errmsg: 'error processing query: ns=test.products: hat $eq "bowler"\n' +
        'Sort: {}\n' +
        'Proj: {}\n' +
        ' planner returned error :: caused by :: hint provided does not correspond to an existing index'
    }
  ],
  ok: 1
}