[role="xpack"]
[testenv="basic"]
[[ilm-delete-lifecycle]]
=== Delete lifecycle policy API
++++
<titleabbrev>Delete policy</titleabbrev>
++++

Deletes a lifecycle policy.

==== Request

`DELETE _ilm/policy/<policy_id>`

==== Description

Deletes the specified lifecycle policy definition. You cannot delete policies
that are currently in use. If the policy is being used to manage any indices,
the request fails and returns an error.

==== Path Parameters

`policy` (required)::
  (string) Identifier for the policy.

==== Request Parameters

include::{docdir}/rest-api/common-parms.asciidoc[tag=timeoutparms]

==== Authorization

You must have the `manage_ilm` cluster privilege to use this API.
For more information, see {stack-ov}/security-privileges.html[Security Privileges].

==== Examples

The following example deletes `my_policy`:

//////////////////////////

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT _ilm/policy/my_policy
{
  "policy": {
    "phases": {
      "warm": {
        "min_age": "10d",
        "actions": {
          "forcemerge": {
            "max_num_segments": 1
          }
        }
      },
      "delete": {
        "min_age": "30d",
        "actions": {
          "delete": {}
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST

//////////////////////////

[source,console]
--------------------------------------------------
DELETE _ilm/policy/my_policy
--------------------------------------------------
// TEST[continued]

When the policy is successfully deleted, you receive the following result:

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "acknowledged": true
}
--------------------------------------------------