---
source: https://qlik.dev/manage/data-files/delete-datafiles/
last_updated: 2026-04-20T13:34:03+01:00
---

# Delete data files from Qlik Cloud

## Overview

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to delete data files individually,
and in bulk.

## Requirements

- Review the prerequisites in the [create data files](https://qlik.dev/manage/data-files/create-datafiles) tutorial.

> **Note:** The cURL examples in this tutorial show the command syntax for Windows Command Prompt.
> If you are using another command line interface, different syntax may be required for line continuation.
> You may also need to adjust the number and type of quotes surrounding the parameters and their values.

## Variable substitution and vocabulary

Throughout this tutorial, variables will be used to communicate value placement.
The variable substitution format is `<VARIABLE_NAME>`. Here is a list of variables
referred to in this tutorial.

| Variable                | Description                                                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `<HOSTNAME>`            | The hostname for the initial tenant created during account onboarding. Such as `tenantname.region.qlikcloud.com`.                               |
| `<ACCESS_TOKEN>`        | A bearer token for authorizing `https` requests to the `<HOSTNAME>`. For more information, see [Authentication](https://qlik.dev/authenticate). |
| `<OAUTH_CLIENT_ID>`     | An OAuth client ID for authorizing requests if using the platform SDK.                                                                          |
| `<OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET>` | An OAuth client secret for authorizing requests if using the platform SDK.                                                                      |
| `<SPACE_ID>`            | The ID of the shared space `<SPACE_NAME>`.                                                                                                      |
| `<CONNECTION_ID>`       | The ID for the data file connection in `<SPACE_NAME>`.                                                                                          |
| `<DATA_FILE_ID>`        | The ID for the data file.                                                                                                                       |

## Delete a single data file

To delete a single data file in a space, you need to know the data file ID. You
can retrieve this using the steps documented in
the [update data files](https://qlik.dev/manage/data-files/update-datafiles) tutorial.
Once you have the data file ID, you can pass this to the delete endpoint to remove
this data file from Qlik Cloud.

```bash
curl -L -X DELETE "https://<HOSTNAME>/api/v1/data-files/<DATA_FILE_ID>" ^
-H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
```

```bash
qlik data-file rm <DATA_FILE_ID>
```

A `204` response confirms that the data file, as well as any associated datasets,
has been deleted successfully.

## Delete all data files in a space

The examples below accept `<SPACE_ID>` as input, and will remove all data files
from the space when run.

```bash
# Set the space ID
$spaceId = '<SPACE_ID>';

$dataConnection = qlik data-file connection ls --spaceId $spaceId | ConvertFrom-Json

$dataFiles = qlik data-file ls --connectionId $($dataConnection.id) | ConvertFrom-Json
Write-Host $($dataFiles.Length) 'data files found.'

while ($($dataFiles.Length) -gt 1) {

    $dataFiles = $dataFiles | ConvertTo-Json
    $deletedFiles = qlik data-file delete --delete $dataFiles.replace('"','\"')

    $dataFiles = qlik data-file ls --connectionId $($dataConnection.id) | ConvertFrom-Json
    Write-Host 'Checking for more files.'
}

echo $("All data files removed, breaking.");
break;
```

This snippet can be pasted into a Qlik Automate workspace.

```json
{
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      "disabled": false,
      "name": "sourceSpaceName",
      "displayName": "Variable - sourceSpaceName",
      "comment": "Set the name of the source space",
      "childId": "9485F1B8-CAEC-48AB-B120-FCD9510C3095",
      "inputs": [],
      "settings": [],
      "collapsed": [{ "name": "loop", "isCollapsed": false }],
      "x": 477,
      "y": 110,
      "variableGuid": "14B10A3B-89C1-4B2D-9E1A-5096D5382162",
      "operations": [
        {
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          "key": "A17CE820-EB64-4CF9-97EF-634A871F06D8",
          "name": "Set value of { variable }",
          "value": "data file testing 2"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
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      "type": "VariableBlock",
      "disabled": false,
      "name": "tenantHostname",
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      "comment": "Set the tenant hostname, e.g. `mytenant.us.qlikcloud.com`",
      "childId": "21CD9BC3-EB81-4097-8824-1A21CE1AEBEE",
      "inputs": [],
      "settings": [],
      "collapsed": [{ "name": "loop", "isCollapsed": false }],
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      "operations": [
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      "comment": "Iterate over data files",
      "childId": "71C9029E-A638-4FEF-9FAF-2D93512A3462",
      "inputs": [
        {
          "id": "input",
          "value": "{ $.ListDataFilesFromSpace }",
          "type": "string",
          "structure": []
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      ],
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      "displayName": "Update Run Title 2",
      "comment": "",
      "childId": null,
      "inputs": [
        {
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          "value": "{ $.message }",
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  ]
}
```

A `204` response confirms that the data files, as well as any associated datasets,
have been deleted successfully.