# Deleting a backup
<a name="backups-deleting"></a>

An automatic backup is automatically deleted when its retention limit expires. If you delete a cluster, all of its automatic backups are also deleted. If you delete a replication group, all of the automatic backups from the clusters in that group are also deleted.

ElastiCache provides a deletion API operation that lets you delete a backup at any time, regardless of whether the backup was created automatically or manually. Because manual backups don't have a retention limit, manual deletion is the only way to remove them.

You can delete a backup using the ElastiCache console, the AWS CLI, or the ElastiCache API.

## Deleting a backup (Console)
<a name="backups-deleting-CON"></a>

The following procedure deletes a backup using the ElastiCache console.

**To delete a backup**

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the ElastiCache console at [ https://console.aws.amazon.com/elasticache/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/elasticache/).

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Backups**.

   The Backups screen appears with a list of your backups.

1. Choose the box to the left of the name of the backup you want to delete.

1. Choose **Delete**.

1. If you want to delete this backup, choose **Delete** on the **Delete Backup** confirmation screen. The status changes to *deleting*.

## Deleting a serverless backup (AWS CLI)
<a name="backups-deleting-serverless-CLI"></a>

Use the delete-snapshot AWS CLI operation with the following parameter to delete a serverless backup.
+ `--serverless-cache-snapshot-name` – Name of the backup to be deleted.

The following code deletes the backup `myBackup`.

```
aws elasticache delete-serverless-cache-snapshot --serverless-cache-snapshot-name myBackup
```

For more information, see [delete-serverless-cache-snapshot](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elasticache/delete-serverless-cache-snapshot.html) in the *AWS CLI Command Reference*.

## Deleting a node-based cluster backup (AWS CLI)
<a name="backups-deleting-CLI"></a>

Use the delete-snapshot AWS CLI operation with the following parameter to delete a node-based cluster backup.
+ `--snapshot-name` – Name of the backup to be deleted.

The following code deletes the backup `myBackup`.

```
aws elasticache delete-snapshot --snapshot-name myBackup
```

For more information, see [delete-snapshot](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/elasticache/delete-snapshot.html) in the *AWS CLI Command Reference*.