> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ditto.live/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# DELETE

> DQL language syntax for deleting documents

<Info>
  To remove a document from a Edge SDK device without permanently deleting it see [`EVICT`](/dql/evict).
</Info>

<Info>
  When using `DELETE` ensure that devices running Ditto Edge SDK are on version **4.10.1 and later**.

  For more information on how to use delete and manage data reach out to [Ditto's Customer Support](https://support.ditto.com)
</Info>

<Note>
  When using `DELETE` on Edge SDKs-Only deployments reach out to [Ditto's Customer Support](https://support.ditto.com) to ensure the
  best design patterns are being used to avoid data loss and/or performance related issues.
</Note>

<Warning>
  Deletes in Ditto requires all devices to connect and share information within the TTL window. If a device goes offline then appears later after all other
  devices have evicted the deleted document the connecting device will not know the document was deleted and share it with other peers.

  Deletes in Ditto require all devices to connect and share updates within the configured TTL (time-to-live) window. Default 7 days (TOMBSTONE\_TTL\_HOURS) for
  Edge SDK, 30 days for Ditto Cloud.

  If a device goes offline and returns after all other devices have already evicted the deleted document, that device will not be aware of the deletion.
  As a result, it may reintroduce the document to the sync network, causing it to reappear on other devices.

  To learn more about how to best use DELETE in your application reach out to [Ditto's Customer Support](https://support.ditto.com)
</Warning>

The `DELETE` operation permanently removes one or more documents from a Ditto collection. Once a document is
deleted it cannot be recovered. Deleted documents can be re-created by using the [`INSERT`](/dql/insert) operation with
the same document id as the deleted document.

## Syntax

```sql DQL theme={null}
DELETE FROM your_collection_name
WHERE [condition]
ORDER BY [order by]
LIMIT [limit]
OFFSET [offset]
```

In this syntax:

* `your_collection_name` is the name of the collection from which you want to retrieve the data.
* `[condition]` represents the condition or criteria that determine which documents should be evicted from the local peer.
* `[order by]` represents the path within a document to use to order the dataset and order (`ASC` or `DESC`).
* `[limit]` represents the maximum number of documents that should be evicted.
* `[offset]` represents the offset from 0 that should be used for the eviction query, in practice this should be rarely used.

## Examples of Deleting Documents

Here, the document with ID `123` is permanently removed from the `cars` collection:

```sql DQL theme={null}
DELETE FROM cars
WHERE _id = '123'
```

In the following snippet, all documents created before the defined value are removed:

```sql DQL theme={null}
DELETE FROM cars
WHERE created_at < 1699888298000
```

## Using DQL to Delete Documents in the Edge SDK

For specifics on deleting documents Ditto SDKs see [`SDK>CRUD>Removing Documents`](/sdk/latest/crud/delete).

## TOMBSTONE Keyword

The `TOMBSTONE` keyword (currently Ditto Server only) is a synonym for the new `DELETE` keyword. Users using the `TOMBSTONE` keyword will get the auto
cleanup properties of `DELETE` without any changes.`TOMBSTONE` will be deprecated/removed in an upcoming Major release.

## Removing Fields from Documents

The `DELETE` keyword is used to remove documents from a collection. To remove a
specific field from a document see [Update > Deleting
Fields](/dql/update#deleting-fields).