Remove by _id in MongoDB console

Question

In the MongoDB console how can I remove a record by id? Here's my collection :

[ 
  {
     "_id" : { "$oid" : "4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f" },
     "name" : "Gazza"
  },
  {
     "_id" : { "$oid" : "4d513345cc9374271b02ec6c" },
     "name" : "Dave",
     "adminOf" : { },
     "email" : "email@email.com"
  }
]

And here are the commands I've tried that don't work :

db.test_users.remove( {"_id":{"$oid":new ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")}});
db.test_users.remove( {"_id":{"$oid":"4d513345cc9374271b02ec6c"}});
db.test_users.remove( {"_id":"4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f"});
db.test_users.remove( {"_id":new ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")});

Removing by name works :

db.test_users.remove( {"name":"Gazza"});

This is in the browser shell on at mongodb.org if that makes any difference.

None of the solutions worked for me until I added a callback: db.test_users.remove( {"_id": '4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f'}, function(err, data){}); — rttmax, Jun 13 '16 at 14:45
I am courious how you succeded to write those documents in your collection , my attempt ended with "writeError" : { "code" : 52, "errmsg" : "$oid is not valid for storage." } — R2D2, Jan 20 '21 at 20:53
we need to write it in this way to make it work db.student.remove({ "_id" : ObjectId("627f593641bcd9e215bc949d")}) OUTPUT: WriteResult({ "nRemoved" : 1 }) — Priyesh Ranjan, May 14 '22 at 07:34

Nic Cottrell · Answer 1 · 2020-03-09T10:35:39.583

328

Very close. This will work:

db.test_users.deleteOne( {"_id": ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")});

i.e. you don't need a new for the ObjectId.

Also, note that in some drivers/tools, remove() is now deprecated and deleteOne or deleteMany should be used instead.

edited Mar 09 '20 at 10:35

answered Apr 14 '12 at 09:42

Nic Cottrell

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4

it will work also without quotes around _id db.test_users.remove( {_id: ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")}); – alfonsodev Jan 04 '14 at 19:06
I tried this: TimeAndSpace.remove( {"_id": ObjectId("8Bd2dZ778LXejYNrL")}); ...and I got, "Uncaught ReferenceError: ObjectId is not defined at :2:13" – B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven Aug 11 '15 at 02:57
@BClay The object ID expects hexadecimal input (maybe also lowercase) so it's failing on the X, Z characters amongst others. – Nic Cottrell Aug 11 '15 at 08:19
If the `_id` field is not automatically generated (i.e. it is not an ObjectId, but a String), You can just write the value of the `_id` under quotation marks: `db.your.database.remove({"_id": "your value"})`. – Aleksandar Jun 04 '18 at 16:39
1

DeprecationWarning: collection.remove is deprecated. Use deleteOne, deleteMany, or bulkWrite instead – Ramesh Vishnoi Mar 08 '20 at 09:44

score 23 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 08 '17 at 15:18

23

If you would like to remove by a list of IDs this works great.

db.CollectionName.remove({
    "_id": {
        $in: [
            ObjectId("0930292929292929292929"),
            ObjectId("0920292929292929292929")
        ]
     }
})

edited Feb 08 '17 at 15:18

fullerja

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answered Aug 11 '16 at 15:43

mjwrazor

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score 19 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:32

19

Well, the _id is an object in your example, so you just need to pass an object

'db.test_users.remove({"_id": { "$oid" : "4d513345cc9374271b02ec6c" }})'

edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:32

starball

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answered Feb 08 '11 at 12:37

Dmitri

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I tried that too it didn't remove the record: db.test_users.remove( {"_id":{"$oid":"4d513345cc9374271b02ec6c"}}); ps: updated the question to show this – Typo Johnson Feb 08 '11 at 12:41
In your question you said you tried this: db.test_users.remove( {"_id":{"$oid":new ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")}}); – Dmitri Feb 08 '11 at 12:42
Yes I updated the question just now thanks, I've tried both and neither work. Maybe this is because you can't delete on a sub property? – Typo Johnson Feb 08 '11 at 12:45
using that way returns "unknown operator: $oid" – Arman Ortega Mar 26 '15 at 06:29
remove is deprecated now, instead use deleteOne or deleteMany – Naga Jan 24 '22 at 20:46

score 17 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 08 '11 at 19:08

17

The answer is that the web console/shell at mongodb.org behaves differently and not as I expected it to. An installed version at home worked perfectly without problem ie; the auto generated _id on the web shell was saved like this :

"_id" : { "$oid" : "4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f" },

The same document setup at home and the auto generated _id was saved like this :

"_id" : ObjectId("4d5192665777000000005490")

Queries worked against the latter without problem.

answered Feb 08 '11 at 19:08

Typo Johnson

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Are you sure that they're saved differently in the document BSON? Those differences look like it's the client just formatting the output differently. – Nic Cottrell Aug 11 '15 at 14:50

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 10 '17 at 13:53

8

first get the ObjectID function from the mongodb ObjectId = require(mongodb).ObjectID;

then you can call the _id with the delete function

"_id" : ObjectId("4d5192665777000000005490")

answered Feb 10 '17 at 13:53

SA Khan

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score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 23 '17 at 09:56

Do you have multiple mongodb nodes in a replica set?

I found (I am using via Robomongo gui mongo shell, I guess same applies in other cases) that the correct remove syntax, i.e.

db.test_users.remove({"_id": ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")})

...does not work unless you are connected to the primary node of the replica set.

score 7 · Answer 7 · edited May 14 '13 at 12:57

7

I've just bumped into this myself and this variation worked for me:

db.foo.remove({**_id**: new ObjectId("4f872685a64eed5a980ca536")})

edited May 14 '13 at 12:57

Shoe

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answered Apr 12 '12 at 23:32

Karoy

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score 5 · Answer 8 · edited Jan 20 '21 at 18:21

5

db.collection("collection_name").deleteOne({_id:ObjectId("4d513345cc9374271b02ec6c")})

edited Jan 20 '21 at 18:21

Bruno Gelb

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answered Sep 17 '20 at 03:40

kamula

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Please explain why/how this solves the problem. See [How To Answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer) – jasie Sep 17 '20 at 07:55

score 4 · Answer 9 · edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:32

4

Suppose we have this dummy collection:

{ "_id" : ObjectId("5ea53fedaa79db20d4e14284"), "item" : "planner", "qty" : 75 }

simply use:

db.inventory.deleteOne({ _id: ObjectId("5ea53fedaa79db20d4e14284") })

it will be deleted with this as a response:

{ "acknowledged" : true, "deletedCount" : 1 }

edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:32

starball

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answered Apr 26 '20 at 11:54

Asad S

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I have a document _id: ObjectId("6388df8324ce3a0e5c22b102") and other elements/fields. In my code I have projects.deleteOne_id({_id: ObjectId(id)} , where id = '6388df8324ce3a0e5c22b102'. When I run this I get an error data : {msg: 'ObjectId is not defined'}, If I try without "ObjectId" I get acknowledged: true, deletedCount: 0. Not deleting. – Pick Avana Dec 01 '22 at 17:27

score 3 · Answer 10 · answered May 27 '19 at 16:00

3

Even though this post is outdated, collection.remove is deprecated! collection.delete_one should be used instead!

More information can be found here under #remove

answered May 27 '19 at 16:00

Yuval Meshorer

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score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 19 '21 at 23:29

db.getCollection("test_users").deleteOne({_id: new ObjectId("4d512b45cc9374271b02ec4f")})

Attribution : To be fair this was the syntax used by a GUI client, the "Russian" one. Mine was a lurking duplicate cause by a bad "upsert" w/o the _id. It only showed up when adding a unique index.

score 1 · Answer 12 · edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:31

1- C:\MongoDB\Server\3.2\bin>mongo (do not issue command yet because you are not connected to any database yet, you are only connected to database server mongodb).

2-

> show dbs
analytics_database  0.000GB
local               0.000GB
test_database       0.000GB

3-

> use test_database
switched to db test_database

4-

> db.Collection.remove({"_id": ObjectId("5694a3590f6d451c1500002e")}, 1);
WriteResult({ "nRemoved" : 1 })
>

now you see WriteResult({ "nRemoved" : 1 }) is 1 not 0.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered May 14 '22 at 07:37

1

Execute the remove() method in this way

db.student.remove({ "_id" : ObjectId("627f593641bcd9e215bc949d")})
OUTPUT : WriteResult({ "nRemoved" : 1 })

answered May 14 '22 at 07:37

Priyesh Ranjan

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score 0 · Answer 14 · edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:31

0

There is new syntax. No need to pass keyword object Id. Just pass like this:

db.orders.remove({"_id":"62514d42f5aec503b2e0f2a9"})

edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:31

starball

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answered Apr 09 '22 at 09:26

Aakash Handa

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score 0 · Answer 15 · edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:30

0

There is a new way to delete the object key(ObjectId) i.e. store in _id column

const ObjectId = require("mongodb").ObjectId
db.collection.deleteOne({_id:**new ObjectId(id)**}) // without double quotes

edited Apr 30 '23 at 22:30

starball

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answered Apr 30 '23 at 22:01

Rudresh Oza

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Remove by _id in MongoDB console

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