Core Data: Quickest way to delete all instances of an entity

Swift 4, iOS 12 and Xcode 10 Update

100% working just cut & paste

Just put this function in relevant class and call this function self.deleteData() in viewDidLoad() or anywhere or under a function or a button so that by clicking a button all the data from entity should be deleted and replace the "myEntity" as your entity that you have defined in your core data

func deleteData() {
    let appDel:AppDelegate = (UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate)
    let context:NSManagedObjectContext = appDel.persistentContainer.viewContext
    let fetchRequest = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: "myEntity")
    fetchRequest.returnsObjectsAsFaults = false         
    do {
        let results = try context.fetch(fetchRequest)
        for managedObject in results {
            if let managedObjectData: NSManagedObject = managedObject as? NSManagedObject {
                context.delete(managedObjectData)
            }
        }
    } catch let error as NSError {
        print("Deleted all my data in myEntity error : \(error) \(error.userInfo)")
    }
}

Swift 3.X and Swift 4.X , Easy way. Change only YourTable

    let fetchRequest = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: "YourTable")
    fetchRequest.returnsObjectsAsFaults = false

    do
    {
        let results = try context.fetch(fetchRequest)
        for managedObject in results
        {
            let managedObjectData:NSManagedObject = managedObject as! NSManagedObject
            context.delete(managedObjectData)
        }
    } catch let error as NSError {
        print("Detele all my data in \(entity) error : \(error) \(error.userInfo)")
    }

quick purge of all objects in DB:

func purgeAllData() {
    let uniqueNames = persistentContainer.managedObjectModel.entities.compactMap({ $0.name })

    uniqueNames.forEach { (name) in
      let fetchRequest = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: name)
       let batchDeleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: fetchRequest)
         do {
        try persistentContainer.viewContext.execute(batchDeleteRequest)
      } catch {
        let nserror = error as NSError
        fatalError("Unresolved error \(nserror), \(nserror.userInfo)")
      }
   }
 }

iOS 9.0 and Later :

NSBatchDeleteRequest is used to delete records in core data. It works very fast and takes less time to delete all records from an entity. It requires NSFetchRequest in argument. If you want to delete all records from an entity, you can use it and it works for me.

let manageObject:NSManagedObjectContext = appDelegateObject.managedObjectContext

let fetchRequest = NSFetchRequest(entityName: “EnityName”)

let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: fetchRequest)

let persistCor:NSPersistentStoreCoordinator = appDelegateObject.persistentObject
 do {
        try persistCor.executeRequest(deleteRequest, withContext: manageObject)
        try manageObject.save()
    } catch {
        print(error?.localizedDescription)
    }

the OOP way without any strings as entities names Swift 3+, Xcode 10+

func batchDelete<T>(in context: NSManagedObjectContext, fetchRequest: NSFetchRequest<T>) throws {
    guard let request = fetchRequest as? NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult> else {
        throw ErrorService.defaultError
    }
    let batchDeleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: request)
    do {
        try context.execute(batchDeleteRequest)
    } catch {
        throw error
    }
}

then just call in do/catch block

    let fetchRequest: NSFetchRequest<YourEntity> = YourEntity.fetchRequest()
    do {
        let data = try context.fetch(fetchRequest)
        if data.count > 0 {
            try self.batchDelete(in: context, fetchRequest: fetchRequest)
        }
    } catch {
        // throw error
    }

Swift4+ and Xcode 10+ Use below code for delete all records from entity.

func deleteAllRecords(entity : String) {

        let managedContext = CoreDataManager.sharedManager.persistentContainer.viewContext //your context
        let deleteFetch = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: entity)
        let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: deleteFetch)
        
        do {
            try managedContext.execute(deleteRequest)
            try managedContext.save()
        } catch {
            print ("There was an error")
        }
    }

How to use

self.deleteEntityData(entity: "YOUR_ENTITY_NAME")

In Swift 3.0

 func deleteAllRecords() {
        //delete all data
        let context = appDelegate.persistentContainer.viewContext

        let deleteFetch = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: "YourClassName")
        let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: deleteFetch)

        do {
            try context.execute(deleteRequest)
            try context.save()
        } catch {
            print ("There was an error")
        }
    }

This code will work for both iOS 9 and below

class func deleteAllRecords(in entity : String) // entity = Your_Entity_Name
    {

        let context = CoreDataStack.getContext() // Note:- Replace your context here with CoreDataStack.getContext()
        let deleteFetch = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: entity)
        if #available(iOS 9, *)
        {
            let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: deleteFetch)
            do
            {
                try context.execute(deleteRequest)
                try context.save()
            }
            catch
            {
                print("There was an error:\(error)")
            }
        }
        else
        {
            do{
                let deleteRequest = try context.fetch(deleteFetch)
                for anItem in deleteRequest {
                    context.delete(anItem as! NSManagedObject)
                }
            }
            catch
            {
                print("There was an error:\(error)")
            }
        }
        CoreDataStack.saveContext() // Note:- Replace your savecontext here with CoreDataStack.saveContext()
    }

    func deleteAll(entityName: String) {

    let fetchRequest = NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>(entityName: entityName)
    let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: fetchRequest)
    deleteRequest.resultType = .resultTypeObjectIDs
    guard let context = self.container?.viewContext
        else { print("error in deleteAll")
            return }

    do {
        let result = try context.execute(deleteRequest) as? NSBatchDeleteResult
        let objectIDArray = result?.result as? [NSManagedObjectID]
        let changes: [AnyHashable : Any] = [NSDeletedObjectsKey : objectIDArray as Any]
        NSManagedObjectContext.mergeChanges(fromRemoteContextSave: changes, into: [context])
    } catch {
        print(error.localizedDescription)
    }
}

SwiftUI

fetch instances from your entity, and loop to delete every one.

@Environment(\.managedObjectContext) var moc
    
@FetchRequest(sortDescriptors: []) var wizards: FetchedResults<Wizard>

var body: some View {
    VStack {
        List() { }

        Button("Delete all") {
            for wizard in wizards {
                moc.delete(wizard)
            }
            
            if moc.hasChanges {
                try? moc.save()
            }
        }
    }
}

The above answers give a good insight on how to delete the "Cars"

However, I want this answer to challenge the approach itself:

1- SQLite CoreData is a relational database. In this case, where there isn't any releation, I would advise against using CoreData and maybe using the file system instead, or keep things in memory.

2- In other examples, where "Car" entity have other relations, and therefore CoreData, I would advise against having 2000 cars as root entity. Instead I would give them a parent, let's say "CarsRepository" entity. Then you can give a one-to-many relationship to the "Car" entity, and just replace the relationship to point to the new cars when they are downloaded. Adding the right deletion rule to the relationships ensures the integrity of the model.

NSBatchDeleteRequest Swift 5.5 and Xcode 13.2

deletes the objects in the SQLite persistent store without loading into memory. The changes enacted on the persistent store are not reflected in the objects that are currently in memory.

After a batch delete has been executed, remove any objects in memory that has been deleted from the persistent store.

below are some handy extensions methods that perform the batchDeleteRequest

extension NSManagedObject {
    
    private static var entityName: String {
        return String(describing: self)
    }
    
    static func fetchRequest<Self>(
        with predicate: NSPredicate? = nil,
        configureBlock: ((NSFetchRequest<Self>) -> Void)? = nil
    ) -> NSFetchRequest<Self> where Self: NSFetchRequestResult {
        let request = NSFetchRequest<Self>(entityName: entityName)
        request.predicate = predicate
        configureBlock?(request)
        return request
    }
    
    static func batchDelete(with fetchRequest: NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult>,
                            in context: NSManagedObjectContext) {
        let batchDeteleRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: fetchRequest)
        batchDeteleRequest.resultType = .resultTypeObjectIDs
        do {
            if let fetchResult = try context.execute(batchDeteleRequest) as? NSBatchDeleteResult,
               let deletedManagedObjectIds = fetchResult.result as? [NSManagedObjectID], !deletedManagedObjectIds.isEmpty {
                let changes = [NSDeletedObjectsKey: deletedManagedObjectIds]
                NSManagedObjectContext.mergeChanges(fromRemoteContextSave: changes, into: [context])
            }
        } catch {
            print("Error while executing batchDeleteRequest: \(error.localizedDescription)")
        }
    }
}

Example: We can batch delete the Entity by calling batchDelete static method by passing the fetchRequest

class Entity: NSManagedObject {
    @NSManaged var name: String?
    @NSManaged var value: String?
}

extension Entity {
    
    static func executeBatchDelete(in context: NSManagedObjectContext) {
        let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "\(#keyPath(Entity.value)) == %@)", "abc")
        let deleteRequest: NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult> = Entity.fetchRequest(with: predicate)
        Entity.batchDelete(with: deleteRequest, in: context)
    }
}