db.collection.findOneAndDelete()

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Definition

Compatibility
Behavior
Examples

MongoDB with drivers

This page documents a mongosh method. To see the equivalent method in a MongoDB driver, see the corresponding page for your programming language:

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Definition

db.collection.findOneAndDelete( filter, options )

Deletes a single document based on the filter and sort criteria, returning the deleted document.

The findOneAndDelete() method has the following form:

db.collection.findOneAndDelete(
   <filter>,
   {
     writeConcern: <document>,
     projection: <document>,
     sort: <document>,
     maxTimeMS: <number>,
     collation: <document>
   }
)

The findOneAndDelete() method takes the following parameters:

Parameter

Type

Description

filter

document

The selection criteria for the deletion. The same query selectors as in the find() method are available.

Specify an empty document { } to delete the first document returned in the collection.

If unspecified, defaults to an empty document.

If the query argument is not a document, the operation errors.

writeConcern

document

Optional. A document expressing the write concern. Omit to use the default write concern.

{ w: <value>, j: <boolean>, wtimeout: <number> }

See Delete A Document Using WriteConcern for usage.

Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run in a transaction. To use write concern with transactions, see Transactions and Write Concern.

projection

document

Optional. A subset of fields to return.

To return all fields in the returned document, omit this parameter.

If the projection argument is not a document, the operation errors.

sort

document

Optional. Specifies a sorting order for the documents matched by the filter.

If the sort argument is not a document, the operation errors.

See cursor.sort().

maxTimeMS

number

Optional. Specifies a time limit in milliseconds within which the operation must complete within. Throws an error if the limit is exceeded.

collation

document

Optional.

Specifies the collation to use for the operation.

Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.

The collation option has the following syntax:

collation: {
   locale: <string>,
   caseLevel: <boolean>,
   caseFirst: <string>,
   strength: <int>,
   numericOrdering: <boolean>,
   alternate: <string>,
   maxVariable: <string>,
   backwards: <boolean>
}

When specifying collation, the locale field is mandatory; all other collation fields are optional. For descriptions of the fields, see Collation Document.

If the collation is unspecified but the collection has a default collation (see db.createCollection()), the operation uses the collation specified for the collection.

If no collation is specified for the collection or for the operations, MongoDB uses the simple binary comparison used in prior versions for string comparisons.

You cannot specify multiple collations for an operation. For example, you cannot specify different collations per field, or if performing a find with a sort, you cannot use one collation for the find and another for the sort.

Returns:	Returns the deleted document.

Compatibility

This method is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

Note

This command is supported in all MongoDB Atlas clusters. For information on Atlas support for all commands, see Unsupported Commands.

MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB
MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB

Behavior

Document Match

findOneAndDelete() deletes the first matching document in the collection that matches the filter. The sort parameter can be used to influence which document is deleted.

Projection

Important

Language Consistency

As part of making find() and findAndModify() projection consistent with aggregation's $project stage,

The find() and findAndModify() projection can accept aggregation expressions and syntax.
MongoDB enforces additional restrictions with regards to projections. See Projection Restrictions for details.

The projection parameter takes a document in the following form:

{ field1: <value>, field2: <value> ... }

Projection	Description
`<field>: <1 or true>`	Specifies the inclusion of a field. If you specify a non-zero integer for the projection value, the operation treats the value as `true`.
`<field>: <0 or false>`	Specifies the exclusion of a field.
`"<field>.$": <1 or true>`	Uses the `$` array projection operator to return the first element that matches the query condition on the array field. If you specify a non-zero integer for the projection value, the operation treats the value as `true`. Not available for views.
`<field>: <array projection>`	Uses the array projection operators (`$elemMatch`, `$slice`) to specify the array elements to include. Not available for views.
`<field>: <aggregation expression>`	Specifies the value of the projected field. With the use of aggregation expressions and syntax, including the use of literals and aggregation variables, you can project new fields or project existing fields with new values. If you specify a non-numeric, non-boolean literal (such as a literal string or an array or an operator expression) for the projection value, the field is projected with the new value, for example: `{ field: [ 1, 2, 3, "$someExistingField" ] }` `{ field: "New String Value" }` `{ field: { status: "Active", total: { $sum: "$existingArray" } } }` To project a literal value for a field, use the `$literal` aggregation expression, for example: `{ field: { $literal: 5 } }` `{ field: { $literal: true } }` `{ field: { $literal: { fieldWithValue0: 0, fieldWithValue1: 1 } } }`

Embedded Field Specification

For fields in an embedded documents, you can specify the field using either:

dot notation, for example "field.nestedfield": <value>
nested form, for example { field: { nestedfield: <value> } }

`_id` Field Projection

The _id field is included in the returned documents by default unless you explicitly specify _id: 0 in the projection to suppress the field.

Inclusion or Exclusion

A projection cannot contain both include and exclude specifications, with the exception of the _id field:

In projections that explicitly include fields, the _id field is the only field that you can explicitly exclude.
In projections that explicitly excludes fields, the _id field is the only field that you can explicitly include; however, the _id field is included by default.

For more information on projection, see also:

Project Fields to Return from Query

Sharded Collections

When using db.collection.findOneAndDelete() against a sharded collection, the query must contain an equality condition on shard key.

Documents in a sharded collection can be missing the shard key fields. To target a document that is missing the shard key, you can use the null equality match in conjunction with another filter condition (such as on the _id field). For example:

{ _id: <value>, <shardkeyfield>: null } // _id of the document missing shard key

Transactions

db.collection.findOneAndDelete() can be used inside distributed transactions.

Do not explicitly set the write concern for the operation if run in a transaction. To use write concern with transactions, see Transactions and Write Concern.

Important

In most cases, a distributed transaction incurs a greater performance cost over single document writes, and the availability of distributed transactions should not be a replacement for effective schema design. For many scenarios, the denormalized data model (embedded documents and arrays) will continue to be optimal for your data and use cases. That is, for many scenarios, modeling your data appropriately will minimize the need for distributed transactions.

For additional transactions usage considerations (such as runtime limit and oplog size limit), see also Production Considerations.

Oplog Entries

If a db.collection.findOneAndDelete() operation successfully deletes a document, the operation adds an entry on the oplog (operations log). If the operation fails or does not find a document to delete, the operation does not add an entry on the oplog.

Examples

Delete A Document

The scores collection contains documents similar to the following:

 db.scores.insertMany( [
   { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
   { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
   { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
   { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
   { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
   { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }
] )

The following operation finds the first document where name : M. Tagnum and deletes it:

db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
   { "name" : "M. Tagnum" }
)

The operation returns the original document that has been deleted:

{ _id: 6312, name: "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 }

Delete A Document Using WriteConcern

The scores collection contains documents similar to the following:

db.scores.insertMany( [
   { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
   { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
   { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
   { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
   { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
   { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }
] )

The following operation uses a write concern document inside of the db.collection.findOneAndDelete() method with options:

w:1 to requests acknowledgment that the write operation has propagated to the standalone mongod or the primary in a replica set.
j:true to tell the number of MongoDB instances specified in w:1 to have the delete written to on-disk journel.
wtimeout : 1000 to specify a time limit, in milliseconds, for the write concern. wtimeout is only applicable for w values greater than 1.

db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
   { name: "A. MacDyver" },
   {
      writeConcern: {
         w : 1,
         j : true,
         wtimeout : 1000
      }
   }
)

The operation returns the following document:

{ _id: 6305, name: 'A. MacDyver', assignment: 5, points: 24 }

The document is deleted with the writeConcern options specified.

Sort And Delete A Document

The scores collection contains documents similar to the following:

db.scores.insertMany( [
   { _id: 6305, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 24 },
   { _id: 6308, name : "B. Batlock", "assignment" : 3, "points" : 22 },
   { _id: 6312, name : "M. Tagnum", "assignment" : 5, "points" : 30 },
   { _id: 6319, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 12 },
   { _id: 6322, name : "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 },
   { _id: 6234, name : "R. Stiles", "assignment" : 1, "points" : 10 }
] )

The following operation first finds all documents where name : "A. MacDyver". It then sorts by points ascending before deleting the document with the lowest points value:

db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
   { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
   { sort : { "points" : 1 } }
)

The operation returns the original document that has been deleted:

{ _id: 6322, name: "A. MacDyver", "assignment" : 2, "points" : 14 }

Projecting the Deleted Document

The following operation uses projection to only return the _id and assignment fields in the returned document:

db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
   { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
   { sort : { "points" : 1 }, projection: { "assignment" : 1 } }
)

The operation returns the original document with the assignment and _id fields:

{ _id: 6322, "assignment" : 2 }

Update Document with Time Limit

The following operation sets a 5ms time limit to complete the deletion:

try {
   db.scores.findOneAndDelete(
      { "name" : "A. MacDyver" },
      { sort : { "points" : 1 }, maxTimeMS : 5 }
   )
}
catch(e){
   print(e)
}

If the operation exceeds the time limit, it returns:

MongoServerError: operation exceeded time limit: { "ok": 0, "code" : 50, "codeName" : "MaxTimeMSExpired" }

Note

This error message has been shortened for brevity.

Specify Collation

Collation allows users to specify language-specific rules for string comparison, such as rules for lettercase and accent marks.

A collection myColl has the following documents:

db.myColl.insertMany( [
   { _id: 1, category: "café", status: "A" },
   { _id: 2, category: "cafe", status: "a" },
   { _id: 3, category: "cafE", status: "a" }
] )

The following operation includes the collation option:

db.myColl.findOneAndDelete(
   { category: "cafe", status: "a" },
   { collation: { locale: "fr", strength: 1 } }
);

The operation returns the following document:

{ "_id" : 1, "category" : "café", "status" : "A" }

Back

db.collection.findOne

db.collection.findOneAndReplace

Definition

Compatibility

Note

Behavior

Document Match

Projection

Important

Language Consistency

Embedded Field Specification

_id Field Projection

Inclusion or Exclusion

Sharded Collections

Transactions

Important

Oplog Entries

Examples

Delete A Document

Delete A Document Using WriteConcern

Sort And Delete A Document

Projecting the Deleted Document

Update Document with Time Limit

Note

Specify Collation

`_id` Field Projection