---
title: "Object Storage Swift - Configure automatic object deletion"
description: "Configure automatic object deletion"
url: https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/storage-and-backup/object-storage/pcs-configure-automatic-object-deletion
lang: en
lastUpdated: 2021-10-27
---
# Object Storage Swift - Configure automatic object deletion

## Objective

To easily manage your Object Storage, you may need to define the lifespan of some of your files. This allows you, for example, to keep some backups only for a specific period.

**This guide shows you how to set up automatic file deletion after a specified period or on a specific date.**

## Requirements

- [Prepare the environment to use the OpenStack API](/en/guides/public-cloud/cross-functional/compute-prepare-openstack-api-environment.md)
- [Set OpenStack environment variables](/en/guides/public-cloud/cross-functional/compute-set-openstack-environment-variables.md)

## Instructions

There are two ways to delete your objects/files

- After a certain number of seconds
- On a specific date

### After a certain number of seconds

To do this, configure your request's X-Delete-After header

```bash
root@server:~$ swift copy --header "X-Delete-After: 3600" container test.txt
```

The test.txt file will be deleted in an hour.

### On a specific date

First, you need to know what the deletion date is in epoch format.
To help you find the value you need to insert, use a [converter](http://www.epochconverter.com/).

Then you can enter this date in the X-Delete-At header:

```bash
root@server:~$ swift copy --header "X-Delete-At: 1668877261000" container test.txt
```

The file will therefore be deleted on the 19th November 2022.

## Go further

If you need training or technical assistance to implement our solutions, contact your sales representative or click on [this link](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/professional-services/) to get a quote and ask our Professional Services experts for assisting you on your specific use case of your project.

Join our [community of users](https://community.ovhcloud.com/).