# Clean up unnecessary indices after upgrade Elastic Stack version

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [May 25, 2022, 10:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586 "2022-05-25T10:08:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![norgro2601](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/norgro2601/32/33292_2.png) [@norgro2601](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/norgro2601)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 10:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/1 "2022-05-25T10:08:25Z")

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Hi,

after I've upgraded our Stack from version 7 to version 8, I see a lot of indices, that seem to be related to version 7 and therefore no longer in use. Unfortunately, I can't find any document, that shows a list of indices, that can be safely removed. Is any document for this available at all?

Kind regards,  
Norbert

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/2 "2022-05-25T23:57:59Z")

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Are these indices starting with a `.`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![norgro2601](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/norgro2601/32/33292_2.png) [@norgro2601](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/norgro2601)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 9:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/3 "2022-05-26T09:11:22Z")

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Yes, they mostly do, and they have a "-7" in the name and I can find similar new data streams with a "-8" in the name, e.g. the .monitoring-_-7-_ indices.  
Can they safely be removed?

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/4 "2022-05-26T22:42:56Z")

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It should be ok, yep.

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**Author:** ![elasticforme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f05b48/32.png) [@elasticforme](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elasticforme)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/5 "2022-05-27T00:13:17Z")

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I remove them on my test env and nothing broke. all -7 was deleted

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/clean-up-unnecessary-indices-after-upgrade-elastic-stack-version/305586/6 "2022-06-24T00:13:27Z")

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