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Description

The dvc destroy command removes all DVC-related files from your project, including the .dvc directory, configuration files, and local cache. This effectively uninitializes DVC from your repository.
This is a destructive operation that deletes your local cache. Make sure you’ve pushed important data to a remote storage before running this command.

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Usage

dvc destroy [options]

dvc destroy

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Arguments

This command takes no arguments.

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Options

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-f, --force
flag
Force destruction without asking for confirmation.By default, DVC asks for user confirmation before destroying the repository. Use this flag to skip the confirmation prompt (useful for automation).

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What Gets Deleted

When you run dvc destroy, the following are permanently removed:
The entire .dvc directory, including:
  • Configuration files (.dvc/config, .dvc/config.local)
  • Local cache (.dvc/cache/)
  • Temporary files
  • Internal state files
All information about your data pipelines:
  • Stage definitions in dvc.yaml
  • Pipeline dependencies and outputs
  • Metrics and plots configurations
All cached data files:
  • Original versions of tracked files
  • Historical versions from previous commits
  • Cached pipeline outputs
Data in cache is permanently deleted. Ensure you’ve run dvc push to backup to remote before destroying.
What is NOT deleted:
  • .dvc files (e.g., data.csv.dvc) - These remain as regular files in your Git repository
  • Remote storage - Data in remote storage (S3, GCS, etc.) is unaffected
  • Git repository - Your Git history and tracked files remain intact

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Examples

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Destroy with Confirmation

$ dvc destroy

This will destroy all information about your pipelines, all data files,
as well as cache in .dvc/cache.

Are you sure you want to continue? [y/n] y

Successfully destroyed DVC repository.

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Destroy Without Confirmation

$ dvc destroy --force

Successfully destroyed DVC repository.
Use --force in automated scripts or CI/CD pipelines where user interaction isn’t possible.

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Before You Destroy

1

Backup to Remote

Ensure all important data is pushed to remote storage:
dvc push
2

Check Status

Verify no uncommitted changes:
dvc status
git status
3

Document Configuration

Save your DVC configuration if you might need it later:
dvc config --list > dvc-config-backup.txt
4

List Tracked Files

Document what files are tracked by DVC:
git ls-files '*.dvc' > dvc-tracked-files.txt

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After Destruction

After running dvc destroy:

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Project State

# .dvc directory is gone
ls .dvc
# ls: cannot access '.dvc': No such file or directory

# .dvc files remain but are now just regular files
ls *.dvc
# data.csv.dvc  model.pkl.dvc

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Cleanup Git Repository

You may want to remove DVC-related files from Git: 
# Remove .dvc files
git rm *.dvc

# Remove dvc.yaml and dvc.lock if present
git rm dvc.yaml dvc.lock

# Commit the changes
git commit -m "Remove DVC tracking"

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Reinitialize DVC

If you want to start fresh: 
# Reinitialize DVC
dvc init

# Reconfigure remote
dvc remote add -d storage s3://mybucket/dvc-storage

# Pull data from remote
dvc pull

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Use Cases

Switch to Different Tool

Remove DVC when migrating to a different data versioning solution.

Clean Installation

Start fresh with a clean DVC setup after configuration issues.

Remove from Project

Permanently remove DVC from a project that no longer needs it.

Testing & Development

Quickly reset DVC state during testing or development.

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Safety Checks

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Dry Run Alternative

DVC destroy doesn’t have a dry-run option, but you can check what would be deleted: 
# Check size of cache
du -sh .dvc/cache

# List all DVC files
find . -name "*.dvc"

# List cache contents
ls -lh .dvc/cache

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Verify Remote Backup

Before destroying, verify your data is safely in remote storage: 
# Check remote connection
dvc remote list

# Verify all data is pushed
dvc status --cloud

# Should show: "Cache and remote 'storage' are in sync."
If dvc status --cloud shows differences, some data hasn’t been pushed to remote and will be lost during destroy.

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Comparison: destroy vs. remove

Featuredvc destroydvc remove
ScopeEntire DVC setupSpecific stage/file
Deletes cacheYes, entire cacheOnly related files
Deletes .dvc/YesNo
ReversibleNo (destructive)Partially
Removes from GitNoYes (with Git commit)

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Recovery After Accidental Destroy

If you accidentally destroyed DVC:
1

Reinitialize DVC

dvc init
2

Restore Configuration

If you have a backup of your config:
# Restore remote configuration
dvc remote add -d storage s3://mybucket/dvc-storage
Or restore from Git history:
git show HEAD:.dvc/config > .dvc/config
3

Pull Data from Remote

dvc pull
This restores all cached data from remote storage.
4

Verify Status

dvc status
Should show everything is in sync.
As long as you have:
  1. .dvc files in Git
  2. dvc.yaml (if using pipelines)
  3. Data in remote storage
You can fully recover by reinitializing and running dvc pull.

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Troubleshooting

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Permission Denied

ERROR: Permission denied: '.dvc/cache'
Solution: Check file permissions or run with appropriate privileges: 
sudo dvc destroy --force

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Not a DVC Repository

ERROR: Not inside a DVC repository.
Solution: You’re not in a DVC-initialized directory. Either:
  • Navigate to the correct directory
  • DVC may already be destroyed

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Files in Use

ERROR: Cannot remove '.dvc/cache': Resource busy
Solution: Close any programs accessing DVC cache files, then try again.

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Automation Example

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CI/CD Pipeline Cleanup

#!/bin/bash
# Cleanup script for CI/CD

set -e

echo "Backing up to remote..."
dvc push || true  # Continue even if push fails

echo "Destroying DVC repository..."
dvc destroy --force

echo "Removing DVC files from Git..."
git rm -rf *.dvc dvc.yaml dvc.lock 2>/dev/null || true

echo "Cleanup complete."
  • dvc init - Initialize DVC (opposite of destroy)
  • dvc push - Upload data to remote before destroying
  • dvc status --cloud - Check if data is backed up to remote
  • dvc remove - Remove specific DVC-tracked files (not entire setup)
  • dvc gc - Clean up cache without destroying DVC setup

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