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---
layout: default
title: Delete
parent: SQL
nav_order: 12
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redirect_from: /docs/sql/delete/
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---
# Delete
The `DELETE` statement deletes documents that satisfy the predicates in the `WHERE` clause.
If you don't specify the `WHERE` clause, all documents are deleted.
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### Setting
The `DELETE` statement is disabled by default. To enable the `DELETE` functionality in SQL, you need to update the configuration by sending the following request:
```json
PUT _plugins/_query/settings
{
"transient": {
"plugins.sql.delete.enabled": "true"
}
}
```
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### Syntax
Rule `singleDeleteStatement` :
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![singleDeleteStatement ]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/images/singleDeleteStatement.png )
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### Example
SQL query:
```sql
DELETE FROM accounts
WHERE age > 30
```
Explain:
```json
{
"size" : 1000,
"query" : {
"bool" : {
"must" : [
{
"range" : {
"age" : {
"from" : 30,
"to" : null,
"include_lower" : false,
"include_upper" : true,
"boost" : 1.0
}
}
}
],
"adjust_pure_negative" : true,
"boost" : 1.0
}
},
"_source" : false
}
```
Result set:
```json
{
"schema" : [
{
"name" : "deleted_rows",
"type" : "long"
}
],
"total" : 1,
"datarows" : [
[
3
]
],
"size" : 1,
"status" : 200
}
```
The `datarows` field shows the number of documents deleted.