--- title: "Deleting contacts and interactions from the xDB" slug: "deleting-contacts-and-interactions-from-the-xdb" abstract: "How to delete contacts and interactions from the xDB." --- # Deleting contacts and interactions from the xDB In Sitecore 9.2 and later, you can delete a contact and all associated interactions, facets, and identifiers. Use this functionality to remove data that is no longer valuable to your business - for example, you may want to delete contacts that do not have any interactions from the past two years. The following video demonstrates how to find and delete inactive contacts: Be aware that: - Deleting a contact is different from [executing the right to be forgotten](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/deleting-contacts-and-interactions-from-the-xdb.html#UUID-c2f0beed-83f8-1d94-a818-49e77b3ddef6_section-5c9defe3d3657-idm46265903150144 "Delete and the right to be forgotten"). - Starting with Sitecore 10.2, you use the [XConnect purging tool](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/xconnect-purging-tool.html "xConnect purging tool") to delete a subset of interactions, or delete interactions without deleting the contact. - Deleting a contact removes that contact's interactions, which affects aggregated data in the xDB Reporting database if you choose to rebuild. > [!note] > The xDB Reporting database will include deleted data until you [choose to rebuild](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/rebuild-the-reporting-database.html "Rebuild the reporting database"). - Contacts that are deleted during an active session will be partially recreated by the tracker on session end. The following example demonstrates how to delete a batch of two contacts: ```csharp using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; using Sitecore.XConnect; using Sitecore.XConnect.Client; namespace Documentation { public class DeleteContact { // Async example public async void ExampleAsync() { using (Sitecore.XConnect.Client.XConnectClient client = Sitecore.XConnect.Client.Configuration.SitecoreXConnectClientConfiguration.GetClient()) { try { // Get contact var referenceOne = new Sitecore.XConnect.ContactReference(Guid.Parse("A9812105-2D45-A612-82E6-34E6D7117DCB")); var referenceTwo = new Sitecore.XConnect.ContactReference(Guid.Parse("B9814105-1F45-E611-82E6-34E6D7117DCB")); Task contactTaskOne = client.GetAsync(referenceOne, new ContactExecutionOptions(new ContactExpandOptions() { })); Task contactTaskTwo = client.GetAsync(referenceTwo, new ContactExecutionOptions(new ContactExpandOptions() { })); Contact contactOne = await contactTaskOne; Contact contactTwo = await contactTaskTwo; // Delete contact client.DeleteContact(contactOne); client.DeleteContact(contactTwo); await client.SubmitAsync(); } catch (XdbExecutionException ex) { // Manage exceptions } } } // Sync example public void Example() { using (Sitecore.XConnect.Client.XConnectClient client = Sitecore.XConnect.Client.Configuration.SitecoreXConnectClientConfiguration.GetClient()) { try { // Get contact var referenceOne = new Sitecore.XConnect.ContactReference(Guid.Parse("B9814105-1F55-E611-12E6-22E6D7117DCB")); var referenceTwo = new Sitecore.XConnect.ContactReference(Guid.Parse("DB814105-1F45-E611-82E6-34E6D7117DCB")); var contactOne = client.Get(referenceOne, new ContactExecutionOptions(new ContactExpandOptions() { })); var contactTwo = client.Get(referenceTwo, new ContactExecutionOptions(new ContactExpandOptions() { })); // Delete contact client.DeleteContact(contactOne); client.DeleteContact(contactTwo); client.Submit(); } catch (XdbExecutionException ex) { // Manage exceptions } } } } } ``` ## Contact delete logic When you delete a contact: - The following data is removed from the xDB Collection database: - Interaction facets - Interactions - Contact facets - Contact - Contact identifier indexes > [!note] > Device profiles associated with the contact are not removed. - The xDB Search Indexer removes all contact and interaction data from the xDB index. - The Marketing Automation Engine's xConnect service plugin (`Sitecore.XConnect.Service.Plugins.MarketingAutomation.XdbContactEventWatcher`) adds a high priority work item to remove the deleted contact from all automation plans. Keep the following in mind when using the delete operation: - The delete operation ignores concurrency token validation. This means that the contact will be deleted even if it is being updated by a parallel thread, and contact identifiers are deleted even if the contact identifier index is locked. - The delete operation is transactionless, which may result in data being partially deleted if a system error occurs at the provider level (SQL). ### Delete and merged contacts When two contacts are merged, references are added between the source and target contact. The target contact references the source contact via a merge identifier, and the source contact references the target contact via a facet property. A contact that has been part of multiple merge operations results in a merge tree of related contacts. In the following diagram, *Known2* is the target of several merge operations and the current root of the merge tree: > [!note] > The example uses text identifiers instead of GUIDs for readability. ![merge-and-delete.PNG](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/images/merge-and-delete.PNG) Sitecore 9.2 and 9.3 differ slightly in how the following scenario are handled: - Deleting a contact in the middle of the merge tree (for example, *Known1*). - Deleting the root contact (for example, *Known2*). #### Delete and merged contacts in 9.2 In Sitecore 9.2, the following logic applies when you delete a contact: - If you delete a contact in the middle of the merge tree (for example, *Known1*), you break the chain that links *Known2* with *Anon1* and *Anon2*. *Anon1* and *Anon2* become orphans. - If you delete the root contact, no other contacts are deleted. The contacts marked *Obsolete* in the diagram remain in the xDB Collection database. #### Delete and merged contacts in 9.3 and later In 9.3 and later, the following logic applies when you delete a contact: - If you delete a contact in the middle of the merge tree (for example, *Known1*), new references are created between the root contact and the remaining contacts in the branch. In the following example, references are added between *Known2* and *Anon1*/*Anon2*. ![merge-and-delete-2.PNG](https://doc.sitecore.com/api/markdown-image/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/images/merge-and-delete-2.PNG) - If you delete the root contact, the entire merge tree is deleted. This means that deleting *Known2* also deletes *Anon1*, *Anon2*, *Anon3*, and *Known1*. ## Delete and the right to be forgotten Deleting a contact is not the same as [using xConnect's right to be forgotten feature](https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/105/sitecore-experience-platform/execute-right-to-be-forgotten.html "Execute right to be forgotten"). Your organization must decide which option meets the requirements for GDPR and other data privacy legislation in your particular case. > [!warning] > Be aware that contacts that are deleted during an active session will be partially recreated by the tracker, including any known or anonymous identifiers.