IDBObjectStore.delete()

The delete() method of the IDBObjectStore interface returns an IDBRequest object, and, in a separate thread, deletes the specified record or records.

Either a key or an IDBKeyRange can be passed, allowing one or multiple records to be deleted from a store. To delete all records in a store, use  IDBObjectStore.clear.

Bear in mind that if you are using a IDBCursor, you can use the IDBCursor.delete() method to more efficiently delete the current record — without having to explicitly look up the record's key.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

Syntax

var request = objectStore.delete(keyorKeyRange);

Parameters

Key
The key of the record to be deleted, or an IDBKeyRange to delete all records with keys in range.

Return value

An IDBRequest object on which subsequent events related to this operation are fired. The request.result attribute is set to undefined.

Exceptions

This method may raise a DOMException of the following types:

Exception Description
TransactionInactiveError This object store's transaction is inactive.
ReadOnlyError The object store's transaction mode is read-only.
InvalidStateError The object store has been deleted.
DataError

The key is not a valid key or a key range.

Example

In the following code snippet, we open a read/write transaction on our database and delete one specific record out of our object store using delete() — a sample record with the key "Walk dog". For a full working example, see our To-do Notifications app (view example live.)

// Let us open our database
var DBOpenRequest = window.indexedDB.open("toDoList", 4);
DBOpenRequest.onsuccess = function(event) {
  note.innerHTML += '<li>Database initialised.</li>';
  // store the result of opening the database in the db variable. This is used a lot below
  db = DBOpenRequest.result;
  // Run the deleteData() function to delete a record from the database
  deleteData();
};
function deleteData() {
  // open a read/write db transaction, ready for deleting the data
  var transaction = db.transaction(["toDoList"], "readwrite");
  // report on the success of the transaction completing, when everything is done
  transaction.oncomplete = function(event) {
    note.innerHTML += '<li>Transaction completed.</li>';
  };
  transaction.onerror = function(event) {
    note.innerHTML += '<li>Transaction not opened due to error: ' + transaction.error + '</li>';
  };
  // create an object store on the transaction
  var objectStore = transaction.objectStore("toDoList");
  // Make a request to delete the specified record out of the object store
  var objectStoreRequest = objectStore.delete("Walk dog");
  objectStoreRequest.onsuccess = function(event) {
    // report the success of our request
    note.innerHTML += '<li>Request successful.</li>';
  };
};

Specification

Specification Status Comment
Indexed Database API
The definition of 'delete()' in that specification.
Recommendation  
Indexed Database API 2.0
The definition of 'delete()' in that specification.
Editor's Draft  

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Edge Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari (WebKit)
Basic support 23webkit
24 (unprefixed)
(Yes) 10 moz
16.0 (16.0)
10, partial 15 7.1
Available in workers (Yes) ? 37.0 (37.0) ? (Yes) ?
Indexed Database 2.0 58 ? ? ? 45 ?
Feature Android Webview Chrome for Android Edge Firefox Mobile (Gecko) Firefox OS IE Phone Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) 22.0 (22.0) 1.0.1 10 22 8
Available in workers (Yes) (Yes) ? 37.0 (37.0) (Yes) ? (Yes) ?
Indexed Database 2.0 58 58 ? ? ? ? 45 ?

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: chrisdavidmills, jpmedley, libbymc, inexorabletash, fscholz
 Last updated by: chrisdavidmills,