> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/v3.x/commands/delete.md).

# Delete

```
yq delete <yaml_file|-> <path_expression>
```

See docs for [path expression](/yq/v3.x/usage/path-expressions.md) for more details.

## Deleting from a simple document

Given a sample.yaml file of:

```yaml
b:
  c: 2
  apples: green
```

then

```bash
yq d sample.yaml b.c
```

will output

```yaml
b:
  apples: green
```

## From STDIN

Use "-" (without quotes) in-place of a file name if you wish to pipe in input from STDIN.

```bash
cat sample.yaml | yq d - b.c
```

## Deleting in-place

```bash
yq d -i sample.yaml b.c
```

will update the sample.yaml file so that the 'c' node is deleted

## Multiple Documents

### Delete from single document

Given a sample.yaml file of:

```yaml
something: else
field: leaveMe
---
b:
  c: 2
field: deleteMe
```

then

```bash
yq d -d1 sample.yaml field
```

will output:

```yaml
something: else
field: leaveMe
---
b:
  c: 2
```

### Delete from all documents

Given a sample.yaml file of:

```yaml
something: else
field: deleteMe
---
b:
  c: 2
field: deleteMeToo
```

then

```bash
yq d -d'*' sample.yaml field
```

will output:

```yaml
something: else
---
b:
  c: 2
```