--- title: Delete Documents description: How to delete documents with a command line tool or an SDK. pubDate: 2026-08-17T09:53:44.266Z antora: editUrl: https://github.com/couchbaselabs/docs-devex/edit/release/8.0/modules/guides/pages/deleting-data.adoc xref: xref:server:guides:deleting-data.adoc[] --- [Consult the llms.txt file for a full list of contents](/llms.txt) [View original HTML](/server/current/guides/deleting-data.html) # Delete Documents > How to delete documents with a command line tool or an SDK. ## [](#introduction)Introduction In situations where data is no longer needed, Couchbase Server provides a remove operation to delete a document from the database permanently. Read the following for further information about the clients available: * [Command Line Clients](../../../c-sdk/current/hello-world/cbc.md) * [SDK Clients](../../../home/sdk.md) > [!WARNING] > Please note that the examples in this guide will alter the data in your sample database. To restore your sample data, remove and reinstall the travel sample data. Refer to [Sample Buckets](../manage/manage-settings/install-sample-buckets.md) for details. ## [](#deleting-a-document)Deleting a Document To delete a specific field within a document, perform a Sub-Document remove operation. * cbc * .NET * Java * Node.js * Python Use the `cbc rm` command to delete a document from the database. --- The example below deletes document `airport_1254` from the database. ```shell cbc rm -u Administrator -P password -U couchbase://localhost/travel-sample airport_1254 ``` Result ```console airport_1254 Deleted ``` For further details, refer to [cbc(1)](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-c-client/md%5Fdoc%5F2cbc.html). Use the `RemoveAsync()` method to delete a document from the database. --- The example below deletes document `hotel-123` from the database. ```csharp await hotelCollection.RemoveAsync("hotel-123"); ``` > [!NOTE] > If the document does not exist, the SDK will return a `DocumentNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [CollectionExtensions](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-net-client/api/Couchbase.KeyValue.CollectionExtensions.html). Use the `remove()` method to delete a document from the database. --- The example below deletes document `hotel-123` from the database. ```java MutationResult removeResult = hotelCollection.remove("hotel-123"); System.out.println("CAS:" + removeResult.cas()); ``` > [!NOTE] > If the document does not exist, the SDK will return a `DocumentNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-java-client/com/couchbase/client/java/Collection.html). Use the `remove()` function to delete a document from the database. --- The example below deletes document `hotel-123` from the database. ```nodejs Unresolved include directive in modules/guides/pages/deleting-data.adoc - include::nodejs-sdk:hello-world:example$kv-hello-world-scoped.js[] ``` > [!NOTE] > If the document does not exist, the SDK will return a `DocumentNotFoundError` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-node-client/classes/Collection.html). Use the `remove()` function to delete a document from the database. --- The example below deletes document `hotel-123` from the database. ```python remove_result = hotel_collection.remove("hotel-123") print("CAS:", remove_result.cas) ``` > [!NOTE] > If the document does not exist, the SDK will return a `DocumentNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-python-client/api/couchbase.html#collection-object). ## [](#deleting-a-sub-document)Deleting a Sub-Document To delete a specific field within a document you can perform a Sub-Document remove operation. * cbc-subdoc * .NET * Java * Node.js * Python 1. Connect to the `cbc-subdoc` interactive shell. 2. Use the `remove` command to delete a field from a document. 3. Pass the field to remove with the `--path` argument. --- The example below deletes the `url` field from document `hotel-123`. ```console cbc-subdoc -u Administrator -P password -U couchbase://localhost/travel-sample subdoc> remove hotel-123 --path url ``` Result ```console hotel-123 CAS=0x16be2f11c6040000 0. Size=0, RC=LCB_SUCCESS (0) ``` > [!NOTE] > If the path cannot be found, `cbc-subdoc` will return a `LCB_ERR_SUBDOC_PATH_NOT_FOUND` error. For further details, refer to [cbc-subdoc(1)](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-c-client/md%5Fdoc%5Fcbc%5Fsubdoc.html). 1. Call the `MutateInAsync()` method, which takes a document ID and an IEnumerable containing `MutateInSpec` objects. 2. Use a `MutateInSpec` object to specify the sub-operation to be performed within the lookup. A `MutateInResult` object is returned containing the result and metadata relevant to the Sub-Document remove operation. --- The example below deletes the `url` field from document `hotel-123`. ```csharp var mutateInResult = await hotelCollection.MutateInAsync("hotel-123", specs => specs.Remove("url") ); Console.WriteLine($"Cas: {mutateInResult.Cas}"); ``` > [!NOTE] > If the path does not exist, the SDK will return a `PathNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [CollectionExtensions](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-net-client/api/Couchbase.KeyValue.CollectionExtensions.html). 1. Call the `mutateIn()` method, which takes a document ID and an array of `MutateInSpec` objects. 2. Use a `MutateInSpec` object to specify the sub-operation to be performed within the lookup. A `MutateInResult` object is returned, containing the result and metadata relevant to the Sub-Document remove operation. --- The example below deletes the `url` field from document `hotel-123`. ```java List specs = Arrays.asList(MutateInSpec.remove("url")); MutateInResult mutateInResult = hotelCollection.mutateIn("hotel-123", specs); System.out.println("CAS:" + mutateInResult.cas()); ``` > [!NOTE] > If the path does not exist, the SDK will return a `PathNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-java-client/com/couchbase/client/java/Collection.html). 1. Call the `mutateIn()` method, which takes a document ID and an array of `MutateInSpec` objects. 2. Use a `MutateInSpec` object to specify the sub-operation to be performed within the lookup. A `MutateInResult` object is returned, containing the result and metadata relevant to the Sub-Document remove operation. --- The example below deletes the `url` field from document `hotel-123`. ```nodejs Unresolved include directive in modules/guides/pages/deleting-data.adoc - include::nodejs-sdk:hello-world:example$kv-hello-world-scoped.js[] ``` > [!NOTE] > If the path does not exist, the SDK will return a `PathNotFoundError` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-node-client/classes/Collection.html). 1. Call the `lookup_in()` function, which takes a document ID and a list of `MutateInSpec` objects. 2. Use a `MutateInSpec` object to specify the sub-operation to be performed within the lookup. A `MutateInResult` object is returned, containing the result and metadata relevant to the Sub-Document remove operation. --- The example below deletes the `url` field from document `hotel-123`. ```python mutate_in_result = hotel_collection.mutate_in( "hotel-123", [subdocument.remove("url")] ) print("CAS:", mutate_in_result.cas) ``` > [!NOTE] > If the path does not exist, the SDK will return a `PathNotFoundException` error. Click the View button to see this code in context. For more information, see [Collection](https://docs.couchbase.com/sdk-api/couchbase-python-client/api/couchbase.html#collection-object). ## [](#related-links)Related Links Key-Value Operations with SDKs: * [C](../../../c-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [C++](../../../cxx-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [.NET](../../../dotnet-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Go](../../../go-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Java](../../../java-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Kotlin](../../../kotlin-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Node.js](../../../nodejs-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [PHP](../../../php-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Python](../../../python-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Ruby](../../../ruby-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Rust](../../../rust-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md)| [Scala](../../../scala-sdk/current/howtos/kv-operations.md) Sub-Document operations with SDKs: * [C](../../../c-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [C++](../../../cxx-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [.NET](../../../dotnet-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Go](../../../go-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Java](../../../java-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| Kotlin | [Node.js](../../../nodejs-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [PHP](../../../php-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Python](../../../python-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Ruby](../../../ruby-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Rust](../../../rust-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)| [Scala](../../../scala-sdk/current/howtos/subdocument-operations.md)