> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lancedb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delete

> DELETE FROM ... WHERE: rows are marked, not erased.

**Applies to:** Embedded ❌, Enterprise ✅

```sql SQL icon="database" theme={"theme":{"light":"vitesse-light","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
DELETE FROM documents WHERE created_at < TIMESTAMP '2025-01-01 00:00:00'
```

Compare a timestamp column with a typed literal, as above, or with
`CAST('2025-01-01' AS TIMESTAMP)`. A bare string such as `'2025-01-01'` is
rejected in a `DELETE` predicate, even though a `SELECT` accepts it.

Deletion marks rows rather than erasing them, so the data remains recoverable
for as long as the version holding it survives
[retention](https://docs.lancedb.com/maintenance/cleanup.md).

Commits a new table version, so [versioning](https://docs.lancedb.com/management/table.md#versioning) and
the [write guarantees](https://docs.lancedb.com/basics/guarantees.md#writes) apply, including that the
version advances even when the statement affects zero rows.

## What to read next

> [card] [Delete](https://docs.lancedb.com/ingestion/delete.md)
>
> The SDK equivalent.


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