1---
2layout: "docs"
3page_title: "Command: destroy"
4sidebar_current: "docs-commands-destroy"
5description: "The terraform destroy command destroys all objects managed by a Terraform configuration."
6---
7
8# Command: destroy
9
10The `terraform destroy` command is a convenient way to destroy all remote
11objects managed by a particular Terraform configuration.
12
13While you will typically not want to destroy long-lived objects in a production
14environment, Terraform is sometimes used to manage ephemeral infrastructure
15for development purposes, in which case you can use `terraform destroy` to
16conveniently clean up all of those temporary objects once you are finished
17with your work.
18
19## Usage
20
21Usage: `terraform destroy [options]`
22
23This command is just a convenience alias for the following command:
24
25```
26terraform apply -destroy
27```
28
29For that reason, this command accepts most of the options that
30[`terraform apply`](./apply.html) accepts, although it does
31not accept a plan file argument and forces the selection of the "destroy"
32planning mode.
33
34You can also create a speculative destroy plan, to see what the effect of
35destroying would be, by running the following command:
36
37```
38terraform plan -destroy
39```
40
41This will run [`terraform plan`](./plan.html) in _destroy_ mode, showing
42you the proposed destroy changes without executing them.
43
44-> **Note:** The `-destroy` option to `terraform apply` exists only in
45Terraform v0.15.2 and later. For earlier versions, you _must_ use
46`terraform destroy` to get the effect of `terraform apply -destroy`.
47