Buckets
Buckets in the left sidebar is where you create buckets and work with their contents without writing code.
This page covers the console specifically. For the concepts, the S3 API equivalents, and code samples, see Buckets, Objects, Versioning, and Object Lock.
The bucket list
The table shows Name, Region (both the label and the region ID, such as Europe (France) and eu-west-1), Created, Visibility, and Features, where Versioned and Object Lock badges appear if you enabled them.
All of your buckets are listed together, in the order the API returns them. With no buckets yet the page reads No buckets yet and offers Create bucket.
Bucket deletion runs through the S3 API rather than the console for now, so the trash icon on each row is disabled with the tooltip Deleting buckets is not available yet. See Buckets for the API route and which regions support it.
Creating a bucket
Click Create bucket and fill in:
- Bucket name. 3 to 63 characters, lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only, starting and ending with a letter or number. No dots, unlike AWS S3. Must be globally unique.
- Region. Europe (France)
eu-west-1, the default, or US East (Michigan)us-east-1. This sets the endpoint you connect to. - Object settings, three switches that nest inside one another, all off by default:
- Versioning keeps multiple versions of an object.
- Object Lock requires Versioning to be on, and stays greyed out until it is.
- Retention requires Object Lock, and stays greyed out until it is. Turning it on reveals a Default Retention Policy with Governance or Compliance mode (Governance by default) and a Lock period in Days or Years, defaulting to 15 days. The maximum is 100 years.
Turning a parent switch back off resets the ones nested inside it.
You can also expand Create new key to generate an access key alongside the bucket. It is pre-scoped to the bucket you are creating and to that bucket's region, and the submit button changes to Create bucket and API key. The secret is shown once, in a dialog, before you return to the list.
A panel headed Included by default confirms two things you do not configure: all data is encrypted at rest, and every bucket is private, so access requires an API key.
Name, region, versioning, Object Lock, and the default retention policy are all fixed when the bucket is created, in the console and over the API alike. Decide on them up front, and create a new bucket if you later need a different configuration.
Inside a bucket
Opening a bucket shows its region, storage used, and creation time, then property cards for Versioning, Object Lock, Encryption (always Enabled), and Default Retention when one is set.
Two tabs follow:
- Objects (N) is the object browser.
- API Keys (N) lists the keys that can reach this bucket, plus an Access endpoints block with the copyable S3 Endpoint, S3 Path, and Region you need to configure a client.
Browsing objects
The object table shows Name, Size, and Last Modified, plus Version and Status columns when versioning is enabled. Keys containing / are grouped into folder rows you can click into, with a breadcrumb to walk back out.
On a versioned bucket, a key with more than one version gets an expander and an n versions pill. Expanding shows the older versions, badged Latest for the current one and Delete marker where a delete marker sits on top.
Per-row icon buttons download or delete a single object, one at a time.
The browser shows the first page of results, around 1,000 entries. The count on the Objects (N) tab is drawn from your bucket analytics and stays accurate, so on a large bucket expect that count to be higher than the number of rows in view. Use the AWS CLI or an SDK to page through a full listing. See Objects.
Uploading
Open a bucket and click Upload object. You can drag files or whole folders onto the drop zone, or use Select files and Select folder.
An optional Prefix field puts your files under a path such as images/. Two details are worth knowing:
- The prefix field appears when you select individual files. Files picked as a folder keep their own relative paths, which take the place of the prefix.
- The prefix starts empty each time rather than carrying over from the folder you were browsing, so set it on every upload where you want one.
Selecting files does not upload them. Click Upload n file(s) to start, and a per-run progress bar tracks the batch. If any file fails, a Retry n failed button retries just those rather than the whole set.
The console uploads each file in a single request, which the S3 single-PUT ceiling caps at 5 GB. For objects above that, use the AWS CLI or an SDK with multipart support. See Multipart Uploads.
The object detail page
Clicking an object shows its Name, Size, Bucket, S3 Path, ETag, and, where they apply, Version ID, Retention, Description, and Tags. When retention is in Compliance mode a Compliance retention lock notice gives the date before which the object cannot be deleted.
A Version history card appears when the object has more than one version, listing each Version ID with its Status, Size, and Last Modified, and marking the one you are viewing. Clicking another row opens that version.
Version history is drawn from the object list you arrived through, so open the bucket first if you have followed a direct link to an object and the card is not showing.
To bring an earlier version back as the current one, download it and upload it again. See Versioning.
Downloading and sharing
Download is available on each row in the object list and in the object detail header. It works on any plan, including the trial.
Share object generates a link anyone can open without an API key. Choose an expiry of 1 hour, 24 hours (the default), 3 days, or 7 days, then Generate link.
Sharing is a paid-plan feature. During the trial the button is disabled, with a tooltip pointing to an upgrade.
Deleting objects
Click the trash icon on a row, or Delete object on the detail page, and confirm. Objects are deleted one at a time.
Deletion is permanent on a non-versioned bucket. On a versioned bucket, deleting the current object writes a delete marker and keeps the earlier versions, which continue to be billed. Deleting a specific version removes just that version.
An object under an active retention period or legal hold is protected, and attempting to delete it returns that protection as an error. See Object Lock.
While an account is past due or in a grace period, access is read-only and uploads and deletions resume once the payment succeeds. See Trial & Billing.