docs-v2/content/influxdb3/clustered/reference/internals/data-retention.md

title	description	weight	menu	influxdb3/clustered/tags
Data retention in InfluxDB Clustered	InfluxDB Clustered enforces database retention periods at query time and, to optimize storage, routinely deletes [Parquet](https://parquet.apache.org/) files containing only expired data.	103	influxdb3_clustered name parent Data retention InfluxDB internals	internals

{{< product-name >}} enforces database retention periods at query time. Any points with timestamps beyond a database's retention period are filtered out of query results, even though the data may still exist.

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

Database retention period

A database retention period is the duration of time that a database retains data. Retention periods are designed to automatically delete expired data and optimize storage without any user intervention.

Retention periods can be as short as an hour or infinite. Points in a database with timestamps beyond the defined retention period (relative to now) are not queryable, but may still exist in storage until fully deleted.

{{% note %}}

View database retention periods

Use the influxctl database list command to view your databases' retention periods. {{% /note %}}

When does data actually get deleted?

InfluxDB routinely deletes Parquet files containing only expired data. InfluxDB retains expired Parquet files for approximately 100 days for disaster recovery. After the disaster recovery period, expired Parquet files are permanently deleted and can't be recovered.