# Delete Lightsail instances
Delete instances

If you no longer need an instance, you can delete it using the Amazon Lightsail console or the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI). You stop incurring charges for the instance as soon as it’s deleted. However, resources that were attached to the deleted instance will continue to incur charges until you delete them as well. For more information on these resources and how to delete them after deleting your instance, see [Next steps](#delete-instance-next-steps).

**Warning**  
When you delete an instance, it can't be recovered. Any automatic snapshots of the instance will also be deleted as part of this operation. If you want to retain your data for later use, you must first create a snapshot of your instance or choose to keep an existing automatic snapshot. For more information, see the following documentation:  
[Keep automatic snapshots from being replaced in Lightsail](amazon-lightsail-keeping-automatic-snapshots.md)
[Back up Linux/Unix Lightsail instances with snapshots](lightsail-how-to-create-a-snapshot-of-your-instance.md)
[Create a snapshot of your Lightsail Windows Server instance](prepare-windows-based-instance-and-create-snapshot.md)

## Delete an instance from the Lightsail console home page


1. Sign in to the [Lightsail console](https://lightsail.aws.amazon.com/).

1. For the instance you want to delete, choose the actions menu icon (⋮), then choose **Delete**.  
![\[Delete an instance from the Lightsail console home page.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/animation_delete_instance.gif)

1. Choose **Yes, delete** to confirm the deletion.

## Delete an instance from the Lightsail console instance management page


1. In the Lightsail console on the home page, choose the instance you want to delete.

1. Choose the **Delete** button, then choose **Delete instance**.  
![\[Delete an instance from the Lightsail console instance management page.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/amazon-lightsail-delete-instance-button.png)

1. Select the checkbox, then enter ***Confirm*** into the input field to acknowledge that you want to delete the instance.

1. Choose **Delete instance** to confirm the deletion.

## Delete an instance using the AWS CLI


1. Complete the following prerequisites if you haven't already.

   1. Install the AWS CLI. For more information, see [Install the AWS CLI](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/installing.html) .

   1. Configure the AWS CLI. For more information, see [Configuring the AWS CLI](lightsail-how-to-set-up-and-configure-aws-cli.md).

   1. (Optional) Use AWS CloudShell. For more information, see [Manage Lightsail resources with AWS CloudShell](amazon-lightsail-cloudshell.md).

1. Open a Terminal, Command Prompt, or CloudShell window, then type the following command to get the name of the instance you want to delete:

   ```
   aws lightsail get-instances
   ```

   You should see results similar to the following:  
![\[AWS CLI output for Lightsail get-instances operation.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/amazon-lightsail-get-instance-output.png)

1. Select and copy the name of the instance you want to delete so you can use it in the next step.
**Note**  
If the instance you want to delete does not appear, confirm that your AWS CLI is configured for the AWS Region where the instance is located. For more information, see [Configuring the AWS CLI](lightsail-how-to-set-up-and-configure-aws-cli.md).

1. Type the following command to delete the instance.

   ```
   aws lightsail delete-instance --instance-name InstanceName
   ```

   In the command, replace *InstanceName* with the name of the instance.

   If the deletion is successful, you should see a confirmation similar to the following:  
![\[AWS CLI output for Lightsail delete-instance operation.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/lightsail/latest/userguide/images/amazon-lightsail-delete-instance-output.png)
**Note**  
If the deletion isn’t successful, you should see an error message. Confirm that you copied and pasted the exact name of the instance and try again.

## Next steps


After you delete an instance, a static IP, snapshots, block storage disks, and load balancer associated to an instance remain in Lightsail, and incur additional charges. For more information about how to delete those resources, see the following articles:
+ [Delete a static IP](how-to-delete-static-ip.md)
+ [Delete a snapshot](amazon-lightsail-deleting-snapshots.md)
+ [Detach and delete a block storage disk](detach-and-delete-block-storage-disks.md)
+ [Delete a load balancer](delete-lightsail-load-balancer.md)