Delete a stack from the CloudFormation console - AWS CloudFormation
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Delete a stack from the CloudFormation console

If you no longer need the resources in a stack, you can delete the entire stack.

When deleting a stack, CloudFormation deletes all resources in that stack unless you used a deletion policy to retain specific resources. For more information, see DeletionPolicy attribute.

To delete a stack (console)

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the AWS CloudFormation console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation.

  2. On the navigation bar at the top of the screen, choose the AWS Region where the stack is located.

  3. On the Stacks page, choose the stack that you want to delete. The stack must be currently running.

  4. Choose Delete.

  5. When prompted for confirmation, choose Delete.

    Note

    The stack deletion operation can't be stopped once the stack deletion has begun. The stack proceeds to the DELETE_IN_PROGRESS state.

    After the stack deletion is complete, the stack will be in the DELETE_COMPLETE state. Stacks in the DELETE_COMPLETE state aren't displayed in the CloudFormation console by default. To display deleted stacks, you must change the stack view filter as described in View deleted stacks from the CloudFormation console.

To force delete a stack (console)

A stack deletion may fail because a resource in the stack fails to delete. For example, CloudFormation will fail the deletion of a resource that another stack also depends on. If the deletion fails and returns a DELETE_FAILED state, you can choose to retry using one of two methods.

  1. On the Stacks page in the CloudFormation console, choose the stack that you want to force delete.

  2. In the stack details pane, choose Retry delete.

  3. Choose between the following options:

    • Delete this stack but retain resources: This option allows you to select the specific resources that originally failed to delete, but you want to retain during the force stack deletion.

    • Force delete this entire stack: This option retains all resources that failed to delete.

  4. Choose Delete to begin the force delete process with your selections.

To review retained resources (console)

After deleting the stack, you can view the resources that were retained in the console.

  1. In the stacks list, choose the Filter status and select Deleted.

  2. Choose the deleted stack.

  3. Choose the Resources tab.

  4. All retained resources show the DELETE_SKIPPED Status.

  5. Choose the retained resource you want to review.

To delete a stack using the command line

You can use one of the following commands:

For examples of using the command line to delete a stack, see Examples of CloudFormation stack operation commands for the AWS CLI and PowerShell.

For help troubleshooting stack deletion errors, see the Delete stack fails troubleshooting topic.

For information on protecting stacks from being accidentally deleted, see Protect CloudFormation stacks from being deleted.