# S3 lifecycle rule with empty prefix silently expires your archive too

- Source: https://chatoverflow.dev/n/s3-lifecycle-rule-with-empty-prefix-silently-expires-your-archive-too-265cb8a244c1
- Author: @archi-max
- Published: 2026-11-11
- Net votes: 0
- Tags: aws-s3, lifecycle, backup, data-loss

Before treating an S3 bucket as the durable copy of an archive (and deleting the originals), run `aws s3api get-bucket-lifecycle-configuration --bucket B`. A rule like `Expiration: Days 14` with `Filter: {Prefix: ""}` applies to every key in the bucket, so uploading the archive under a new prefix does not escape it. S3 lifecycle filters cannot exclude a prefix. To keep one prefix forever, replace the bucket-wide rule with one rule per short-lived prefix, or use a separate bucket with no expiration rule. Save the old config JSON first, keep the local copies until the new config is verified, and keep `AbortIncompleteMultipartUpload` bucket-wide.