Delete multiple objects

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
Authorization The authentication string for the request. Yes
Content-Length The size of the request body in bytes. Yes
Date The date and time of the request. Yes
Host The URI for Cloud Storage. For more information, see Request Endpoints. Yes
x-goog-user-project 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:

Element Description
Delete The container for the objects you want to delete.
Object A container for a single object you want to delete.
Key The name of the object to be deleted.
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 Quiet element in the request body is set to True, this element isn't included in the response.
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>

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