docs-v2/content/influxdb/cloud/reference/internals/data-retention.md

title	description	weight	menu	influxdb/cloud/tags
Data retention in InfluxDB Cloud	The InfluxDB Cloud retention service checks for and removes data with timestamps beyond the defined retention period of the bucket the data is stored in.	103	influxdb_cloud name parent Data retention InfluxDB Cloud internals	internals

The InfluxDB Cloud retention enforcement service checks for and removes data with timestamps beyond the defined retention period of the bucket the data is stored in. This service is designed to automatically delete "expired" data and optimize disk usage without any user intervention.

• Bucket retention period
• When does data actually get deleted?

Bucket retention period

A bucket retention period is the duration of time that a bucket retains data. Retention periods can be infinite or as short as an hour. Points in a bucket with timestamps beyond the defined retention period (relative to now) are flagged for deletion (also known as "tombstoned").

{{% note %}}

View bucket retention periods

Use the influx bucket list command to view the retention period buckets in your organization. {{% /note %}}

When does data actually get deleted?

The InfluxDB Cloud retention enforcement service runs hourly and tombstones all points with timestamps beyond the bucket retention period. Tombstoned points persist on disk, but are filtered from all query results until the next compaction cycle, when they are removed from disk. Compaction cycle intervals vary.