Why do I get the error "The snapshot is currently in use by an AMI" when I try to delete my Amazon EBS snapshot?

Resolution

Note: If you receive errors when you run AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) commands, then see Troubleshoot AWS CLI errors. Also, make sure that you're using the most recent AWS CLI version.

Amazon EBS-backed Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) include EBS snapshots. If you try to delete an EBS snapshot that's associated with an active AMI, then you receive this error.

Note: You can't delete public snapshots. If you try to delete a public snapshot, then you receive an "unknown error occurred" message.

If you no longer need the EBS snapshot or its associated AMI, then use the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) console to deregister the AMI. After you deregister the AMI, use the Amazon EC2 console or AWS CLI to delete the EBS snapshot.

Complete the following steps:

1. Note the AMI ID in the error message.
2. Open the Amazon EC2 console, and then in the navigation pane, choose AMIs.
3. Choose the AMI, and then on the Actions menu, choose Deregister AMI. 
   Note: If you don't see the AMI, then check the other AWS Regions that you use. Also, if the AMI is deactivated, then it doesn't appear in the default view. For more information, see Describe disabled AMIs.
4. Delete the EBS snapshot.

Related information

Deregister your AMI