Simple solution to delete all contacts from Marketing Cloud - ExactTarget

Delete One or More Contacts

After your account is enabled for Contact Delete, you can remove contact records right in Contact Builder. This section shows you how to delete those contacts, either one at a time or in groups. When you delete contacts from Marketing Cloud, you can select one or more contacts from All Contacts, or you can delete the contact information in your Marketing Cloud account for all contacts in a data extension. Here are the steps you take to delete from All Contacts.

• In Contact Builder, navigate to All Contacts.
• To delete one or more contacts, select the checkboxes next to the appropriate contacts.
• Click  and select Delete selected contact.
• Review the deletion information and click Delete.

NOTE: You can only delete 25 contacts at one-time using this process.

Deleting Bulk Contacts

NOTE: You must have MobileConnect or MobilePush to complete these steps. 

1. In MobileConnect or MobilePush, create a filtered list that meets the following conditions:

•  Contact Key is not null

This provides every record that is in All Contacts

2. Use a SQL Query Activity to query from this list into a new Data Extension (DE).

3. Create a new DE with one field titled SubscriberKey, make this field a Primary Key. Make the DE sendable.

4. In Automation Studio, create an SQL query that resembles the below. 

select subscriberkey from [name of MobileConnect/MobilePush filtered list name]

5. For the target Object, select the newly created DE. Save it, then place it in an Automation and run the Automation once to populate the DE.

6. To delete all contacts from a list or data extension, click  and select the source.

• Choose whether to delete from a list or data extension.
• Navigate to the correct list or data extension and select the appropriate checkbox.
• Choose whether you want to delete just the contacts from the list or data extension, or delete the entire list or data extension.
• Click Delete Contacts.
• Review the deletion information and click Delete.

To track deletion progress, click  and select View Pending Deletions.

NOTE - You can delete up to one million records, If you have more than one million records - I would suggest to batch the deletion process

Similar process can be followed to delete All Subscribers