elasticsearch/docs/reference/indices/delete-index.asciidoc

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

The delete index API allows to delete an existing index.

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
DELETE /twitter
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE
// TEST[setup:twitter]

The above example deletes an index called `twitter`. Specifying an index or a
wildcard expression is required. Aliases cannot be used to delete an index.
Wildcard expressions are resolved to matching concrete indices only.

The delete index API can also be applied to more than one index, by either
using a comma separated list, 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.