Create, inspect and delete buckets

A bucket is the S3 container that stores your objects. Create bucket creates a general purpose bucket. You choose its name and Region when creating it; S3Client cannot change them afterwards. Folders inside the bucket represent object key prefixes.

Prepare to create a bucket#

Use an enabled account whose credentials have permission to create buckets, such as s3:CreateBucket on Amazon S3. Available Regions come from the account settings; the default Region is selected initially.

To configure conditional options, open File > Accounts…, select the account, click Edit…, then open Capabilities. Bucket creation includes Create buckets in the account regional namespace. Object Ownership includes Set Object Ownership when creating a bucket. Enable these capabilities only when the service supports the corresponding requests. They do not replace the required permissions.

If Bucket creation > Creating an existing bucket may reset its ACL is enabled, S3Client checks that you do not already own a bucket with this name before creating it. This check applies outside the account regional namespace when the Region is us-east-1 or no Region code is entered. It requires permission to list your buckets (s3:ListAllMyBuckets on Amazon S3). BucketAlreadyOwnedByYou means you already own a bucket with this name. BucketOwnershipCheckFailed means the check failed; BucketOwnershipCheckIncomplete means reading all pages is disabled or is not progressing. These errors block creation.

Create a bucket#

1. In the S3 pane, outside Preview mode, select the account in tree view, or open its bucket list in list view. Wait for the account to finish loading.
2. Click Create bucket in the toolbar or the available context menu.
3. Choose Region.
4. Enter Bucket name, or Bucket name prefix when namespaces are available.
5. Set the conditional options described below.
6. Click Create when namespaces are available, otherwise OK.
7. Wait for the operation to finish and check that the bucket appears under the account. If it fails, read the operation error before retrying.

If the account uses an explicit bucket list, add the new name under File > Accounts… > Edit… > Buckets > Add…, click OK, then refresh the account. This list replaces service-wide bucket discovery.

The full name must contain 3 to 63 characters: lowercase letters, digits, periods and hyphens. It must start and end with a letter or digit. IP addresses, consecutive periods and periods next to hyphens are rejected. The service also checks availability and reserved names.

Object Lock#

When the account supports Create buckets with Object Lock, the creation dialog offers Enable Object Lock, unchecked by default. Selecting it permanently enables Object Lock and versioning at creation. This checkbox does not set default retention. See Object Lock to configure protection.

Namespace#

When Bucket namespace is available, it offers two choices:

In File > Accounts… > Edit… > Account, enter the creating service account’s 12-digit Account ID. Under Regions > Edit, check Account Regional bucket namespace available for the selected Region. Both settings and the Create buckets in the account regional namespace capability are required. When these requirements are met on opening the dialog, Account Regional namespace (recommended) is selected initially; otherwise it is disabled and Global namespace is selected.

The suffix uses the Region code, not the local Name. Namespace suffix and Full bucket name are read-only. The counter shows the available prefix length; enter at least one prefix character and keep the full name within 63 characters. Changing the Region or namespace changes the available prefix length. The suffix is part of the bucket name.

The dialog rejects the prefixes xn--, sthree-, and amzn-s3-demo-. With Global namespace, it also rejects the suffixes -s3alias, --ol-s3, .mrap, --x-s3, --table-s3, and -an.

Object ownership#

When Object Ownership is available, Mode offers:

• Service default sends no ownership mode; the service applies its default.
• Bucket owner enforced disables ACLs and makes the bucket owner own the objects.
• Bucket owner preferred keeps ACLs enabled; objects uploaded with bucket-owner-full-control belong to the bucket owner.
• Object writer keeps ACLs enabled; the account writing an object owns it.

Service default is selected initially. On Amazon S3, an explicit mode also requires s3:PutBucketOwnershipControls. It determines whether ACLs affect access.

Inspect identity and calculate contents#

Calculation lists contents without downloading data. It requires s3:ListBucket for current objects and s3:ListBucketVersions for history. With Object versions, S3Client counts all versions unless the bucket is known to have never been versioned. If Read bucket versioning is available, it first reads an unknown state using s3:GetBucketVersioning; a read error prevents a complete total. Without that read capability, it lists versions directly.

1. In the S3 pane, select the bucket.
2. Open Properties > General.
3. Read Account, Bucket, Region, Creation date and, when available, ARN, S3 URI, Owner name and Owner ID. Copy buttons retrieve the exact values. Not reported means the service did not supply the information; the reported creation date may change after bucket configuration updates.
4. Under Content, click Calculate.
5. Wait for Calculation complete. before using the total. Cancel stops the calculation; partial results do not describe the whole bucket.
6. Open Details to inspect folder markers, noncurrent versions and delete markers when versioning is available.

Data size includes noncurrent version data when those versions are listed. Folder markers are counted separately from ordinary objects. Calculation covers the bucket contents, rather than only rows visible after filtering. Selecting several buckets shows the bucket count and shared information.

Calculation cancelled. or Calculation failed: means the results have been cleared. If calculation failed, correct the cause of the error, then run Calculate again. Bucket contents can change during calculation.

Prepare bucket property changes#

Open Properties on a single bucket to access the available tabs. Under Encryption, Current configuration shows Mode:, KMS key:, Bucket Key: and SSE-C blocking:. Pending change separately shows the prepared changes, initially No change. Default encryption applies to new writes; existing objects remain unchanged.

1. Click Change encryption… to open Change encryption.
2. Select Change default encryption to choose the default encryption and its settings. Under SSE-C access, keep Keep SSE-C blocking unchanged or select Block new SSE-C writes or Allow new SSE-C writes, where supported.
3. To remove the entire remote encryption configuration, including its SSE-C blocking setting, select Delete remote encryption configuration if available. Existing objects are not decrypted; the service applies its defaults.
4. Click Use settings to return to properties without writing to S3.
5. Review Pending change, then click OK in properties to start saving.

Cancel in the editor restores the previously confirmed choice. Cancel in properties discards these pending changes. To clear a prepared change, reopen Change encryption…, clear Change default encryption and Delete remote encryption configuration, choose Keep SSE-C blocking unchanged, then confirm with Use settings. See encryption for capabilities, permissions, KMS options and restrictions.

Other tabs have their own requirements: versioning and tags, ACLs and ownership, Object Lock, lifecycle and static website hosting. Access logging has buttons that apply changes immediately; Cancel in properties does not undo a configuration already saved from that tab. See access logging.

Delete an empty bucket#

Delete bucket does not empty the bucket. First remove objects, all versions and delete markers. Version deletion is permanent; Object Lock retention or legal holds can prevent emptying the bucket. Use cleanup commands to prepare and cancel incomplete uploads when needed.

Amazon S3 requires s3:DeleteBucket. A released global name can be taken by another account; an account regional name remains reserved for the account after deletion. Do not rely on being able to recreate the bucket.

Delete bucket is available only for selected, non-external buckets whose loading is complete and whose loaded lists contain no objects or folders. After cleanup, use Refresh and wait for listing to finish. An empty current view does not prove that older versions are absent: the service also checks this when deleting the bucket.

1. In the S3 pane, select the buckets you want to delete.
2. Choose Delete bucket.
3. Check the names or bucket count in the confirmation, then click Yes.
4. Check the result in the operations and bucket list.

If its name remains in the account’s explicit Buckets list, remove it from that local list too; deleting the remote bucket does not change this configuration.

BucketNotEmpty means content remains, possibly versions hidden from the current view. Buckets are deleted separately: success for one bucket does not undo failure for another.