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DELETE clause

The DELETE clause is used to delete nodes and relationships from the database.

  1. Deleting a node
  2. Deleting a node and its relationships
  3. Deleting a relationship
  4. Deleting everything

Dataset​

The following examples are executed with this data et. You can create this dataset locally by executing the queries at the end of the page: Dataset queries.

Data set

1. Deleting a node​

The DELETE clause can be used to delete a node:

MATCH (c:Country {name: 'United Kingdom'})
DELETE c;

Output:

Failed to remove node because of it's existing connections. Consider using DETACH DELETE.

On the dataset we are using, this query results in an error because DELETE can only be used on nodes that have no relationships.

2. Deleting a node and its relationships​

The DELETE clause can be used to delete a node along with all of its relationships with the keyword DETACH:

MATCH (n:Country {name: 'United Kingdom'})
DETACH DELETE n;

Output:

Empty set (0.001 sec)

3. Deleting a relationship​

The DELETE clause can be used to delete a relationship:

MATCH (n:Country {name: 'Germany'})<-[r:LIVING_IN]-()
DELETE r;

Output:

Empty set (0.003 sec)

4. Deleting everything​

To delete all nodes and relationships in a graph, use the following query:

MATCH (n)
DETACH DELETE n;

Output:

Empty set (0.001 sec)

Dataset queries​

We encourage you to try out the examples by yourself. You can get our dataset locally by executing the following query block.

MATCH (n) DETACH DELETE n;

CREATE (c1:Country {name: 'Germany', language: 'German', continent: 'Europe', population: 83000000});
CREATE (c2:Country {name: 'France', language: 'French', continent: 'Europe', population: 67000000});
CREATE (c3:Country {name: 'United Kingdom', language: 'English', continent: 'Europe', population: 66000000});

MATCH (c1),(c2)
WHERE c1.name = 'Germany' AND c2.name = 'France'
CREATE (c2)<-[:WORKING_IN {date_of_start: 2014}]-(p:Person {name: 'John'})-[:LIVING_IN {date_of_start: 2014}]->(c1);

MATCH (c)
WHERE c.name = 'United Kingdom'
CREATE (c)<-[:WORKING_IN {date_of_start: 2014}]-(p:Person {name: 'Harry'})-[:LIVING_IN {date_of_start: 2013}]->(c);

MATCH (p1),(p2)
WHERE p1.name = 'John' AND p2.name = 'Harry'
CREATE (p1)-[:FRIENDS_WITH {date_of_start: 2011}]->(p2);

MATCH (p1),(p2)
WHERE p1.name = 'John' AND p2.name = 'Harry'
CREATE (p1)<-[:FRIENDS_WITH {date_of_start: 2012}]-(:Person {name: 'Anna'})-[:FRIENDS_WITH {date_of_start: 2014}]->(p2);

MATCH (p),(c1),(c2)
WHERE p.name = 'Anna' AND c1.name = 'United Kingdom' AND c2.name = 'Germany'
CREATE (c2)<-[:LIVING_IN {date_of_start: 2014}]-(p)-[:LIVING_IN {date_of_start: 2014}]->(c1);

MATCH (n)-[r]->(m) RETURN n,r,m;