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ApsaraDB RDS:Recycle bin

Last Updated:Aug 26, 2026

After an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance moves to the recycle bin, you can unlock, rebuild, or destroy the instance in the recycle bin.

Important

The system backs up an RDS instance when the RDS instance is being deleted. If the RDS instance is being backed up and the deletion process is not complete, the recycle bin feature is unavailable for the RDS instance. If the deletion process is not complete, the RDS instance is in the Deleting state. The period of time that is required to delete an RDS instance varies based on the data volume and configuration of the RDS instance. Wait until the status of the RDS instance changes to Deleted.

Example scenario

A user has a subscription RDS instance that is locked due to expiration. Within seven days, the user can recover the instance in the recycle bin. After seven days, the user can only rebuild the instance in the recycle bin to restore the data of the original instance to a new instance.

Feature description

Recycle bin feature category

Specific scenarios

Scenarios in which instances enter the recycle bin

  • Pay-as-you-go primary instances that are manually released.

  • Pay-as-you-go primary instances that are automatically released by the system due to overdue payments in Alibaba Cloud accounts.

  • Subscription primary instances that are manually unsubscribed from.

  • Subscription primary instances that are automatically released by the system upon expiration.

Scenarios in which instances do not enter the recycle bin

  • The instance is a read-only instance.

  • Serverless instances do not support the recycle bin feature.

Unlock an RDS instance

Unlock a pay-as-you-go RDS instance whose payment is overdue

If your pay-as-you-go RDS instance is locked due to overdue payments, check the payment method of your Alibaba Cloud account.

Renew and unlock a subscription RDS instance

If your subscription RDS instance is locked due to expiration, you can renew the RDS instance in the recycle bin within seven days. If you do not renew the RDS instance within seven days, the RDS instance is released.

  1. Go to the Instances page.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Recycle Bin. Then, select the region where the required RDS instance resides.

  3. Find the locked RDS instance and click Unlock to renew the RDS instance.

After the RDS instance is renewed, the RDS instance is immediately restored to normal.

Rebuild an instance

When the state of an RDS instance in the recycle bin is Released, its data backups are retained for another eight days. During this period, you can use the rebuild feature of the recycle bin to restore the data to a new instance. For more information about the rules, see Overdue payments.

Note

Backups created by instances with TDE encryption enabled cannot be used to rebuild instances.

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Recycle Bin. In the top navigation bar, select the region of the instance.

  3. Find the instance and click Rebuild.

By default, an instance with the same specifications is created in the zone of the original instance. You can also select a different zone and different instance specifications. After the instance is rebuilt, the data of the original instance is restored to a new instance. However, the instance ID and endpoint of the original instance are not retained. You can change the endpoint of the new instance to the endpoint of the original instance to ensure that your services can connect without interruption. For more information about how to change the endpoint, see View and change the endpoints and port numbers of an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance.

Destroy an instance

Warning

Destroying an instance also destroys all backups except cross-region backups, including regular data backups, archived backups, and log backups. Proceed with caution.

When the state of an RDS instance in the recycle bin is Released, you can destroy the instance in the recycle bin.

Note

Due to delays in system cache updates, you may not be able to immediately destroy an instance that has just entered the recycle bin. In most cases, an instance can be destroyed only after it has been in the recycle bin for approximately 10 minutes. In addition, billing stops immediately after an instance enters the recycle bin.

  1. Log on to the ApsaraDB RDS console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Recycle Bin. In the top navigation bar, select the region of the instance.

  3. Find the instance and click Actions > Destroy.

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