# Delete

Launch stage: GA

`POST /api/2.0/dbfs/delete`

Delete the file or directory (optionally recursively delete all files in the directory).
 This call throws an exception with `IO_ERROR` if the path is a non-empty directory and `recursive` is set to
 `false` or on other similar errors.

 When you delete a large number of files, the delete operation is done in increments. The call returns
 a response after approximately 45 seconds with an error message (503 Service Unavailable) asking you to
 re-invoke the delete operation until the directory structure is fully deleted.

 For operations that delete more than 10K files, we discourage using the DBFS REST API, but advise you to
 perform such operations in the context of a cluster, using
 the [File system utility (dbutils.fs)](https://docs.databricks.com/dev-tools/databricks-utils.html#dbutils-fs). `dbutils.fs`
 covers the functional scope of the DBFS REST API, but from notebooks. Running such operations using notebooks
 provides better control and manageability, such as selective deletes, and the possibility to automate periodic
 delete jobs.

API scopes: files

## Request body

- `path` (string, optional)
  The path of the file or directory to delete. The path should be the absolute DBFS path.
  Example: `/mnt/foo`
- `recursive` (boolean, optional)
  Whether or not to recursively delete the directory's contents. Deleting empty directories can be done without providing the recursive flag.
  Default: `false`

## Response

```json
{}
```