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, seeDeletionPolicy attribute.
To delete a stack (console)
Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudFormation console athttps://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation.
On the navigation bar at the top of the screen, choose the AWS Region where the stack is located.
On theStacks page, choose the stack that you want to delete. The stack must be currently running.
ChooseDelete.
When prompted for confirmation, chooseDelete.
The stack deletion operation can't be stopped once the stack deletion has begun. The stack proceeds to the
DELETE_IN_PROGRESSstate.After the stack deletion is complete, the stack will be in the
DELETE_COMPLETEstate. Stacks in theDELETE_COMPLETEstate aren't displayed in the CloudFormation console by default. To display deleted stacks, you must change the stack view filter as described inView deleted stacks from the CloudFormation console.
To force delete a stack (console)
A stack deletion might 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. Any resources that haven't been deleted will remain until you can successfully delete the stack. If the deletion fails and returns aDELETE_FAILED state, you can choose to retry using one of two methods.
On theStacks page in the CloudFormation console, choose the stack that you want to force delete.
In the stack details pane, chooseRetry delete.
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, and retains dependencies of those resources.
ChooseDelete 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.
In the stacks list, choose theFilter status and selectDeleted.
Choose the deleted stack.
Choose theResources tab.
All retained resources show the
DELETE_SKIPPEDStatus.Choose the retained resource you want to review.
To delete a stack using the command line
You can use one of the following commands:
delete-stack (AWS CLI)
Remove-CFNStack (AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell)
For examples of using the command line to delete a stack, seeExamples of CloudFormation stack operation commands for the AWS CLI and PowerShell.
Related resources
For help troubleshooting stack deletion errors, see theDelete stack fails troubleshooting topic.
For information on protecting stacks from being accidentally deleted, seeProtect CloudFormation stacks from being deleted.
