To delete up to 1,000 objects from a bucket in a single request, you make a POST
request to the bucket's URI and include the delete
query string parameter. The
request body must contain an XML document that specifies the objects you want to
delete.
Query string parameters
This request includes the delete
query string parameter.
Request headers
Include the following request headers:
| Header | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| The authentication string for the request. | Yes | |
| The size of the request body in bytes. | Yes | |
| The date and time of the request. | Yes | |
| The URI for Cloud Storage. For more information, see Request Endpoints . | Yes | |
| The project to be billed for charges associated with the request. | No |
Request body elements
The request body for a multi-object delete operation must be an XML document with the following elements:
Delete
Object
Key
VersionId
(Optional)The version ID of the object to be deleted.
If omitted, Cloud Storage attempts to delete the live version of the object. The result depends on whether Object Versioning or Soft delete are enabled for the bucket:
- If Object Versioning is enabled, deleting the live version makes it noncurrent, and has the same version id.
- If Object Versioning is disabled but Soft delete is enabled, deleting the live version makes it soft-deleted and recoverable during its retention period.
- If neither Object Versioning nor Soft delete are enabled, deleting the live version permanently deletes it.
If you include VersionId
, you target a specific version for deletion.
If Soft delete is enabled, the specified version becomes soft-deleted;
otherwise it is permanently deleted.
Quiet
(Optional)If set to True
, the response body doesn't list successfully deleted objects. If you don't include this element or set it to False
, the response lists every object that was successfully deleted.
We recommend setting the Quiet
element to False
to receive a verbose response.
A verbose response lets you do the following:
- Identify which objects were successfully deleted.
- Identify which objects failed to delete and the associated error codes.
Request syntax
POST /?delete HTTP/1.1 Host: BUCKET_NAME .storage.googleapis.com Date: DATE Content-Length: REQUEST_BODY_LENGTH Authorization: AUTHENTICATION_STRING <Delete> <Object> <Key> OBJECT_NAME_1 </Key> <VersionId> VERSION_ID_1 </VersionId> </Object> <Object> <Key> OBJECT_NAME_2 </Key> <VersionId> VERSION_ID_2 </VersionId> </Object> <Quiet>False</Quiet> </Delete>
Response headers
The request can return a variety of response headers depending on the request headers you use.
Response body elements
The response body is an XML document that provides a status for each object you requested to delete.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
DeleteResult
|
The container for the entire response. |
Deleted
|
A container for an object that was successfully deleted. If the |
Key
|
The name of the successfully deleted object. |
VersionId
|
The version ID of the successfully deleted object. |
Error
|
A container for an object that wasn't deleted due to an error. |
Code
|
The error code for the object that failed to delete. |
Message
|
A detailed error message. |
Example
The following example attempts to delete multiple objects from a bucket named my-bucket
. It includes the Quiet
element set to False
to receive a verbose response, showing two successfully deleted objects and a failed object deletion.
Request
POST /?delete HTTP/1.1
Host: my-bucket.storage.googleapis.com
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2026 03:38:42 GMT
Content-Length: 1320
Authorization: Bearer ya29.AHES6ZRVmB7fkLtd1XTmq6mo0S1wqZZi3-Lh_s-6Uw7p8vtgSwg
<Delete>
<Object>
<Key>image1.jpg</Key>
</Object>
<Object>
<Key>document.pdf</Key>
</Object>
<Object>
<Key>private/financial_data.xlsx</Key>
</Object>
<Quiet>False</Quiet>
</Delete>
Response
<DeleteResult> <Deleted> <Key>image1.jpg</Key> </Deleted> <Deleted> <Key>document.pdf</Key> </Deleted> <Error> <Code>AccessDenied</Code> <Key>private/financial_data.xlsx</Key> <Message>Access Denied. You don't have permission to delete this object.</Message> </Error> </DeleteResult>
What's next
- Learn about Object Versioning .
- Learn about Object Lifecycle Management for automated object deletions.
- Learn about storage batch operations for deleting more than 1,000 objects.
- Learn how to delete a bucket .
