When you want to free up space or when the maximum number of snapshots has been reached, you can delete snapshots that are no longer needed. This topic describes how to delete snapshots in the Elastic Compute Service (ECS) console. This procedure applies to both manual snapshots and automatic snapshots.

Prerequisites

A snapshot is created. For more information, see Create a snapshot of a disk.

Background information

The following limits apply to different snapshot deletion scenarios:
  • You can directly delete snapshots that have never been used to create disks or custom images. For more information, see Delete a snapshot.
  • If the snapshot that you want to delete has been used to create disks, you can only forcefully deleted the snapshot. After the snapshot is deleted, the disks cannot be re-initialized. For more information, see Delete a snapshot that has been used to create disks.
  • If the snapshot that you want to delete has been used to create custom images, you must delete the images before you can delete the snapshot. For more information, see Delete a snapshot that has been used to create custom images.

    After a custom image is deleted, the image cannot be used to create instances. The instances that were created from this image remain available but cannot have their system disks re-initialized.

Notice You can check region-specific snapshot sizes on the Overview page of the ECS console and switch to regions where snapshots are present to delete snapshots based on your needs. After snapshots in all regions are deleted, you are no longer charged for snapshots. For information about snapshot billing, see Snapshots.

Delete a snapshot

  1. Log on to the ECS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Storage & Snapshots > Snapshots.
  3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.
  4. On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to delete and choose more > Delete Snapshot in the Actions column.
    You can select multiple snapshots that you want to delete and click Delete Snapshot below the snapshot list.
  5. In the Delete Snapshot dialog box, confirm snapshot information and click Next.
    Delete Snapshot
  6. Confirm that snapshot information is correct and click OK.

Delete a snapshot that has been used to create disks

  1. Log on to the ECS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Storage & Snapshots > Snapshots.
  3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.
  4. On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to delete and choose more > Delete Snapshot in the Actions column.
    You can select multiple snapshots that you want to delete and click Delete Snapshot below the snapshot list.
  5. In the Delete Snapshot dialog box, read risk information, select Proceed to Force Delete, and then click Next.
    You can click Disks to view disk information on the Disks page.
    Notice To delete a snapshot that has been used to create disks, you must read risk information before you select Proceed to Force Delete. If the snapshot is deleted, you cannot perform operations on business that depends on the snapshot. For example, disks created from the snapshot can no longer be re-initialized. For more information, see Re-initialize a system disk.
    Delete snapshots based on disks
  6. Confirm that snapshot information is correct and click OK.

Delete a snapshot that has been used to create custom images

  1. Log on to the ECS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Storage & Snapshots > Snapshots.
  3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.
  4. On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to delete and choose more > Delete Snapshot in the Actions column.
    You can select multiple snapshots that you want to delete and click Delete Snapshot below the snapshot list.
  5. In the Delete Snapshot dialog box, a message appears indicating that the snapshot has been used to create custom images. You must delete the custom images before you can delete the snapshot.
    You can click Images to delete the corresponding custom images on the Images page. For more information, see Delete a custom image.
    Notice After the custom images are deleted, you can no longer use the images to create instances. The instances that were created from the images remain available but cannot have their system disks re-initialized. For more information, see Re-initialize a system disk.
    Delete snapshots based on images
  6. After the associated images are deleted, delete the snapshot. In the Delete Snapshot dialog box, click Next.
  7. Confirm that snapshot information is correct and click OK.