---
title: Removing Windows nodes
---

# Removing Windows nodes {#removing-windows-nodes}

You can remove a Windows node by deleting its host Windows machine.

## Deleting a specific machine {#machine-delete_removing-windows-nodes}

To remove a machine from your cluster, or restart a machine that is part of a machine set, you can use the OpenShift CLI (`oc`) to delete a specific machine.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Do not delete a control plane machine unless your cluster uses a control plane machine set. If the machine that you delete belongs to a machine set, a new machine is immediately created to satisfy the specified number of replicas.

**Prerequisites**

- Install an OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
- Install the OpenShift CLI (`oc`).
- Log in to `oc` as a user with `cluster-admin` permission.

**Procedure**

1. View the machines that are in the cluster by running the following command:

   ```terminal
   $ oc get machine -n openshift-machine-api
   ```

   The command output contains a list of machines in the `<clusterid>-<role>-<cloud_region>` format.
2. Identify the machine that you want to delete.
3. Delete the machine by running the following command:

   ```terminal
   $ oc delete machine <machine> -n openshift-machine-api
   ```

   Replace `<machine>` with the name of the machine.

   > [!IMPORTANT]
   > By default, the machine controller tries to drain the node that is backed by the machine until it succeeds. In some situations, such as with a misconfigured pod disruption budget, the drain operation might not be able to succeed. If the drain operation fails, the machine controller cannot proceed removing the machine.
   >
   > You can skip draining the node by annotating `machine.openshift.io/exclude-node-draining` in a specific machine.