I cannot delete my data or I am billed for objects I cannot see

Reviewed on October 13, 2026

Deletion and billing issues with Scaleway Object Storage usually come from the same sources: bucket policies, Object Lock, bucket versioning, or incomplete multipart uploads. Find the symptom that matches your situation in the following sections.

Before you start

To complete the following actions, you must have:

Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization

I cannot delete my bucket

You cannot delete your Scaleway Object Storage bucket.

Cause

A bucket policy prevents you from deleting the bucket.

Solution

Make sure that no bucket policy prevents you from deleting the bucket.
If there is a bucket policy, make sure that it explicitly allows you to perform the desired action.

Note

The effective deletion of the bucket starts 24 hours after the deletion request.
The bucket name then becomes available for other customers to use.
Scaleway recommends that you delete all objects and versions in the bucket before requesting the deletion.
Files larger than 1 GB can take longer to delete.

I cannot delete my objects

You cannot delete objects, or deleted objects keep existing in the bucket.

Cause

The object you are trying to delete is protected by Object Lock.
The bucket is versioned, and deleting an object adds a delete marker rather than deleting the object.

Solution

Object Lock

Check if the object is locked using the HeadObject command. If it is locked with the Governance retention mode, you can bypass it with the DeleteObject command using the x-amz-bypass-governance-retention header. You must also specify the VersionId of the object, as buckets with Object Lock enabled are automatically versioned.

Bucket versioning

A DeleteObject operation on a versioned bucket with no VersionId specified creates a delete marker, and the targeted object keeps existing. To permanently delete it, list all its versions with ListObjectVersions (you can specify the name of your object as a prefix), then use the DeleteObject operation on each version.

I am billed for objects that I cannot see

The amount billed does not correspond to the objects present in your Scaleway Object Storage bucket.

Cause

Your bucket is versioned, and multiple versions of your objects are stored in it, incurring extra costs.
Some multipart uploads are ongoing or incomplete. The storage used during the upload is billed, but the object is not visible until the upload is complete.

Solution

Bucket versioning

Check the versioning status of your bucket via the Scaleway console (External link), or using the GetBucketVersioning command:
```
aws s3api get-bucket-versioning --bucket <BUCKET_NAME>
```
- If versioning is disabled, the issue is not linked to versioning.
- If versioning is enabled or suspended, you may have multiple versions of your objects.
List the versions of the objects in your bucket using the ListObjectVersions command:
```
aws s3api list-object-versions --bucket <BUCKET_NAME>
```
A list of all object versions and delete markers present in the bucket is displayed.
Delete the unwanted versions and delete markers using the DeleteObject command with a version ID specified:
```
aws s3api delete-object --bucket <BUCKET_NAME> --key <OBJECT_NAME> --version-id <VERSION_ID>
```

Refer to the official Amazon S3 documentation (External link) for more information on how versioning works.

Multipart uploads

Check for ongoing multipart uploads using the ListMultipartUploads command:
```
aws s3api list-multipart-uploads --bucket <BUCKET_NAME>
```
A list of ongoing multipart uploads is displayed.
Abort the unwanted multipart uploads via the Scaleway console, or using the CLI.
Optionally, set up lifecycle rules to automatically abort incomplete multipart uploads after a given duration.

Going further

See the Object Storage concepts for more information on versioning.
When you contact the Support team about Object Storage, include the endpoint (e.g., s3.fr-par.scw.cloud), the bucket name, and the object name if the request concerns an object.

If you still cannot solve your problem, open a support ticket, providing as many details as possible including the information below:

Resource ID
Resource name
Date and time (timestamp)
User-agent (SDK, client, console, etc.)
Transaction ID (if possible)
Log / trace of the error (if possible)
Screenshots (using our secure pastebin tool (External link))
HTTP status code (if applicable)
Request type (PUT, GET, etc., if applicable)

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