Delete data

You can delete data from a hypertable using a standard DELETE SQL command. If you want to delete old data once it reaches a certain age, you can also drop entire chunks or set up a data retention policy.

Delete data with DELETE command

To delete data from a table, use the syntax DELETE FROM .... In this example, data is deleted from the table conditions, if the row’s temperature or humidity is below a certain level:

DELETE FROM conditions WHERE temperature < 35 OR humidity < 60;

important

If you delete a lot of data, run VACUUM or VACUUM FULL to reclaim storage from the deleted or obsolete rows.

Delete data by dropping chunks

TimescaleDB allows you to delete data by age, by dropping chunks from a hypertable. You can do so either manually or by data retention policy.

To learn more, see the data retention section.