Delete a directory for WorkSpaces Personal - Amazon WorkSpaces

Delete a directory for WorkSpaces Personal

Note

Simple AD and AD Connector are made available to you free of charge to use with WorkSpaces. If there are no WorkSpaces being used with your Simple AD or AD Connector directory for 30 consecutive days, this directory will be automatically deregistered for use with Amazon WorkSpaces, and you will be charged for this directory as per the AWS Directory Service pricing terms.

If you delete your Simple AD or AD Connector directory, you can always create a new one when you want to start using WorkSpaces again.

What happens when you delete a directory

When a Simple AD or AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory directory is deleted, all of the directory data and snapshots are deleted and cannot be recovered. After the directory is deleted, any Amazon EC2 instances that are joined to the directory remain intact. You cannot, however, use your directory credentials to log in to these instances. You need to log in to these instances with an AWS account that is local to the instance.

When an AD Connector directory is deleted, your on-premises directory remains intact. Any Amazon EC2 instances that are joined to the directory also remain intact and remain joined to your on-premises directory. You can still use your directory credentials to log in to these instances.

Delete an Entra ID or Custom WorkSpaces directory

Entra ID WorkSpaces directory allows you to create Entra ID-joined Windows 10 or 11 BYOL WorkSpaces. For more information, see Create a dedicated Microsoft Entra ID directory with WorkSpaces Personal.

Custom WorkSpaces directory allows you to create WorkSpaces that are not Active Directory domain-joined, but use your own device management software and IAM Identity Center. For more information, see Create a dedicated Custom directory with WorkSpaces Personal.

To delete an Entra ID or Custom WorkSpaces directory
  1. Delete all the WorkSpaces in the directory. For more information, see Delete a WorkSpace in WorkSpaces Personal.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Directories.

  3. Select the directory.

  4. Choose Actions, Delete.

  5. When prompted for confirmation, enter delete.

Delete an AWS Directory Service directory

You can delete the AWS Directory Service directory for your WorkSpaces if it is no longer in use by other WorkSpaces or other applications, such as Amazon WorkDocs, Amazon WorkMail, or Amazon Chime. Note that you must deregister a directory before you can delete it.

To deregister a directory
  1. Open the WorkSpaces console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Directories.

  3. Select the directory.

  4. Choose Actions, Deregister.

  5. When prompted for confirmation, choose Deregister. After deregistration is complete, the value of Registered is No.

To delete a directory
  1. Delete all WorkSpaces in the directory. For more information, see Delete a WorkSpace in WorkSpaces Personal.

  2. Find and remove all of the applications and services that are registered to the directory. For more information, see Delete Your Directory in the AWS Directory Service Administration Guide.

  3. Open the WorkSpaces console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/workspaces/.

  4. In the navigation pane, choose Directories.

  5. Select the directory and choose Actions, Deregister.

  6. When prompted for confirmation, choose Deregister.

  7. Select the directory again and choose Actions, Delete.

  8. When prompted for confirmation, choose Delete.

    Note

    Removing application assignments can sometimes take more time than expected. If you receive the following error message, verify that you've removed all application assignments, and then wait 30 to 60 minutes before trying again to delete the directory:

    An Error Has Occurred
    Cannot delete the directory because it still has authorized applications. 
    Additional directory details can be viewed at the Directory Service console.
  9. (Optional) After you delete all resources in the virtual private cloud (VPC) for your directory, you can delete the VPC and release the Elastic IP address used for the NAT gateway. For more information, see Deleting your VPC and Working with Elastic IP addresses in the Amazon VPC User Guide.

  10. (Optional) To delete any custom bundles and images that you are finished with, see Delete a custom bundle or image in WorkSpaces Personal.