[[indices-delete-index]]
== Delete Index

The delete index API allows to delete an existing index.

[source,js]
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$ curl -XDELETE 'http://localhost:9200/twitter/'
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The above example deletes an index called `twitter`. Specifying an index,
alias or wildcard expression is required.

The delete index API can also be applied to more than one index, or on
all indices (be careful!) by using `_all` or `*` as index.

In order to disable allowing to delete indices via wildcards or `_all`,
set `action.destructive_requires_name` setting in the config to `true`.
This setting can also be changed via the cluster update settings api.