# Deleting a cluster snapshot
Deleting a cluster snapshot

A manual snapshot is a full backup that is deleted only when you manually delete it using the AWS Management Console or AWS CLI. You cannot manually delete an automatic snapshot because automatic snapshots are deleted only when the snapshot's retention period expires or you delete the snapshot's cluster.

------
#### [ Using the AWS Management Console ]

To delete a manual cluster snapshot using the AWS Management Console, complete the following steps.

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console, and open the Amazon DocumentDB console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/docdb](https://console.aws.amazon.com/docdb).

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Snapshots**. 
**Tip**  
If you don't see the navigation pane on the left side of your screen, choose the menu icon (![\[Hamburger menu icon with three horizontal lines.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/documentdb/latest/developerguide/images/docdb-menu-icon.png)) in the upper-left corner of the page.

1. In the list of snapshots, choose the button to the left of the snapshot that you want to delete. The snapshot's type must be **manual**.

   1. You can verify that that the snapshot's type is **manual** by checking if it is listed as `manual` or `automatic` under the **Type** column.

1. From the **Actions** menu, choose **Delete**. If the **Delete** option is unavailable, you probably chose an automatic snapshot. 

1. On the delete confirmation screen, to delete the snapshot, choose **Delete**. To keep the snapshot, choose **Cancel**.

------
#### [ Using the AWS CLI ]

An Amazon DocumentDB manual cluster snapshot is a full backup that you can manually delete using the AWS CLI. You cannot manually delete an automatic snapshot.

To delete a manual cluster snapshot using the AWS CLI, use the `delete-db-cluster-snapshot` operation with the following parameters.

**Parameters**
+ **--db-cluster-snapshot-identifier** — Required. The name of the manual snapshot to delete. 

The following example deletes the cluster snapshot `sample-cluster-snapshot`.

For Linux, macOS, or Unix:

```
aws docdb delete-db-cluster-snapshot \
    --db-cluster-snapshot-identifier sample-cluster-snapshot
```

For Windows:

```
aws docdb delete-db-cluster-snapshot ^
    --db-cluster-snapshot-identifier sample-cluster-snapshot
```

Output from this operation lists the details of the cluster snapshot you deleted.

------