---
name: "borg2-delete"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "borgbackup2"
version: "2.0.0b19-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/borg2-delete"
---

# borg2-delete(1)

Delete archives

## NAME

borg-delete - Delete archives

## SYNOPSIS

borg \[common options\] delete \[options\] \[NAME\]

## DESCRIPTION

This command soft-deletes archives from the repository.

Important:

- •

  The delete command will only mark archives for deletion ("soft-deletion"), repository disk space is **not** freed until you run **borg compact**.

- •

  You can use **borg undelete** to undelete archives, but only until you run **borg compact**.

When in doubt, use **--dry-run --list** to see what would be deleted.

You can delete multiple archives by specifying a matching pattern, using the **--match-archives PATTERN** option (for more info on these patterns, see *borg\_patterns*).

## OPTIONS

See *[borg-common(1)](/borg-common/1.md)* for common options of Borg commands.

### arguments

- **NAME**

  specify the archive name

### options

- **-n, --dry-run**

  do not change repository

- **--list**

  output verbose list of archives

### Archive filters

- **-a** *PATTERN,* **--match-archives** *PATTERN*

  only consider archives matching all patterns. see "borg help match-archives".

- **--sort-by** *KEYS*

  Comma-separated list of sorting keys; valid keys are: timestamp, archive, name, id, tags, host, user; default is: timestamp

- **--first** *N*

  consider first N archives after other filters were applied

- **--last** *N*

  consider last N archives after other filters were applied

- **--oldest** *TIMESPAN*

  consider archives between the oldest archive's timestamp and (oldest + TIMESPAN), e.g. 7d or 12m.

- **--newest** *TIMESPAN*

  consider archives between the newest archive's timestamp and (newest - TIMESPAN), e.g. 7d or 12m.

- **--older** *TIMESPAN*

  consider archives older than (now - TIMESPAN), e.g. 7d or 12m.

- **--newer** *TIMESPAN*

  consider archives newer than (now - TIMESPAN), e.g. 7d or 12m.

## EXAMPLES

```
# delete all backup archives named "kenny-files":
$ borg delete -a kenny-files
# actually free disk space:
$ borg compact
# delete a specific backup archive using its unique archive ID prefix
$ borg delete aid:d34db33f
# delete all archives whose names begin with the machine's hostname followed by "-"
$ borg delete -a 'sh:{hostname}-*'
# delete all archives whose names contain "-2012-"
$ borg delete -a 'sh:*-2012-*'
# see what would be deleted if delete was run without --dry-run
$ borg delete --list --dry-run -a 'sh:*-May-*'
```

## SEE ALSO

*[borg-common(1)](/borg-common/1.md)*, *[borg-compact(1)](/borg-compact/1.md)*, *[borg-repo-delete(1)](/borg-repo-delete/1.md)*

## AUTHOR

The Borg Collective