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Deleting nodes and relationships

DELETE​

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

For example, removing all relationships of a single type:

MATCH ()-[relationship :type]-() DELETE relationship;

When testing the database, you often want to have a clean start by deleting every node and relationship in the database. It is reasonable that deleting each node should delete all relationships coming into or out of that node.

MATCH (node) DELETE node;

But, Cypher prevents accidental deletion of relationships. Therefore, the above query will report an error. Instead, you need to use the DETACH keyword, which will remove relationships from a node you are deleting. The following should work and delete everything in the database.

MATCH (node) DETACH DELETE node;

More examples are available here.

REMOVE​

The REMOVE clause is used to remove labels and properties from nodes and relationships:

MATCH (n:WrongLabel) REMOVE n:WrongLabel, n.property;