---
title: Uninstalling the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift
---

# Uninstalling the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift {#external-secrets-operator-uninstall}

You can remove the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift from OpenShift Container Platform by uninstalling the Operator and removing its related resources.

## Uninstalling the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift using the web console {#external-secrets-operator-uninstall-console_external-secrets-operator-uninstall}

You can uninstall the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift from your cluster using the OpenShift Container Platform web console. Uninstalling the Operator does not automatically delete the `ExternalSecrets` custom resources or the running `external-secrets` application workload. These resources remain in the cluster to prevent accidental data loss and must be removed manually if they are no longer needed.

**Prerequisites**

- You have access to the cluster with `cluster-admin` privileges.
- You have access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
- The External Secrets Operator is installed.

**Procedure**

1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
2. Uninstall the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift using the following steps:

   1. Navigate to **Ecosystem** → **Installed Operators**.
   2. Click the Options menu ![](/openshift-docs-markdown/images/kebab.png "Options menu") next to the **External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift** entry and click **Uninstall Operator**.
   3. In the confirmation dialog, click **Uninstall**.

## Removing External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift resources by using the web console {#external-secrets-remove-resources_external-secrets-operator-uninstall}

After you have uninstalled the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift, you can optionally eliminate its associated resources from your cluster.

**Prerequisites**

- You have access to the cluster with `cluster-admin` privileges.
- You have access to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

**Procedure**

1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
2. Remove the deployments of the `external-secrets` application components in the `external-secrets` namespace:

   1. Click the **Project** drop-down menu to see a list of all available projects, and select the **external-secrets** project.
   2. Navigate to **Workloads** → **Deployments**.
   3. Select the deployment that you want to delete.
   4. Click the **Actions** drop-down menu, and select **Delete Deployment** to see a confirmation dialog box.
   5. Click **Delete** to delete the deployment.
3. Remove the custom resource definitions (CRDs) that were installed by the External Secrets Operator using the following steps:

   1. Navigate to **Administration** → **CustomResourceDefinitions**.
   2. Choose `external-secrets.io/component: controller` from the suggestions in the **Label** field to filter the CRDs.
   3. Click the Options menu ![](/openshift-docs-markdown/images/kebab.png "Options menu") next to each of the following CRDs, and select **Delete Custom Resource Definition**:

      - ACRAccessToken
      - ClusterExternalSecret
      - ClusterGenerator
      - ClusterPushSecret
      - ClusterSecretStore
      - ECRAuthorizationToken
      - ExternalSecret
      - GCRAccessToken
      - GeneratorState
      - GithubAccessToken
      - Grafana
      - MFA
      - Password
      - PushSecret
      - QuayAccessToken
      - SecretStore
      - SSHKey
      - STSSessionToken
      - UUID
      - VaultDynamicSecret
      - Webhook
4. Remove the `external-secrets-operator` namespace using the following steps:

   1. Navigate to **Administration** → **Namespaces**.
   2. Click the Options menu ![](/openshift-docs-markdown/images/kebab.png "Options menu") next to the **External Secrets Operator** and select **Delete Namespace**.
   3. In the confirmation dialog, enter `external-secrets-operator` in the field and click **Delete**.

## Removing External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift resources by using the CLI {#external-secrets-remove-resources-cli_external-secrets-operator-uninstall}

After you have uninstalled the External Secrets Operator for Red Hat OpenShift, you can optionally eliminate its associated resources from your cluster by using the command-line interface (CLI).

**Prerequisites**

- You have access to the cluster with `cluster-admin` privileges.

**Procedure**

1. Delete the deployments of the `external-secrets` application components in the `external-secrets` namespace by running the following command:

   ```terminal
   $ oc delete deployment -n external-secrets -l app=external-secrets
   ```
2. Delete the custom resource definitions (CRDs) that were installed by the External Secrets Operator by running the following command:

   ```terminal
   $ oc delete customresourcedefinitions.apiextensions.k8s.io -l external-secrets.io/component=controller
   ```
3. Delete the `external-secrets-operator` namespace by running the following command:

   ```terminal
   $ oc delete project external-secrets-operator
   ```