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This guide covers destroying a DigitalOcean Droplet. Destroying a Droplet permanently removes the server and its disk. Backups and snapshots are not deleted automatically — you’ll need to remove those separately.
Complete the pre-termination checklist before proceeding. Destroying a Droplet is irreversible.

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Option 1: DigitalOcean Control Panel

1

Open Droplets

Sign in to the DigitalOcean Control Panel and click Droplets in the left sidebar.
2

Open the Droplet

Click the name of the Droplet running OpenClaw. Confirm the correct Droplet by checking its IP address against what appeared on the watchboard.
3

Go to Destroy

In the left sidebar of the Droplet detail page, scroll to Destroy.
4

Destroy the Droplet

Click Destroy this Droplet. Read the warning — this action cannot be undone. Type the Droplet name to confirm, then click Destroy.
Official DigitalOcean documentation: How to Destroy a Droplet

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Option 2: doctl CLI

If you have doctl installed:
You’ll be prompted to confirm. To skip the prompt:
Official doctl reference: doctl compute droplet delete

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Option 3: DigitalOcean API

A successful request returns HTTP 204 with no body. See the DigitalOcean API reference for details.

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Post-termination cleanup

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Delete backups and snapshots

DigitalOcean backups and snapshots are not deleted when the Droplet is destroyed. These continue to incur storage charges and contain your instance’s data. In the Control Panel, go to Backups & Snapshots under the Manage section, or use doctl:

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Release reserved IPs

If the Droplet had a reserved IP (formerly Floating IP) assigned, release it:

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Delete associated volumes

Block Storage volumes attached to the Droplet are not deleted automatically:

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Rotate credentials

After destruction, rotate everything the agent had access to. See the post-termination checklist for the full list.