# Missing S3 lifecycle policy for incomplete multipart uploads Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/missing-s3-lifecycle-policy-for-incomplete-multipart-uploads Multipart upload allows large files to be uploaded in segments. Each part is stored individually until the upload is finalized by a... By: Taylor Houck [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) # Missing S3 Lifecycle Policy for Incomplete Multipart Uploads The short version Multipart upload allows large files to be uploaded in segments. [Taylor Houck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/twhouck/) Cloud FinOps Specialist @ PointFive AWS service [AWS S3](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/aws-s3) Category [Storage](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/storage) Reference CER-0076 Type Inefficient Configuration ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. Each part is stored individually until the upload is finalized by a "CompleteMultipartUpload" request. If this final request is never issued-due to a timeout, crash, failed job, or misconfiguration - the parts remain stored but are effectively useless: they do not form a valid object and cannot be retrieved. Without a lifecycle policy in place to clean up these incomplete uploads, the orphaned parts persist and continue to incur storage charges indefinitely. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. S3 charges per GB-month for all stored data, including partial object data from incomplete multipart uploads. These parts are billed as standard storage and remain in the bucket unless explicitly removed-either manually or via a lifecycle policy. ## How to detect 3 checks to find it in your estate. - Identify S3 buckets that are used for large file uploads or automation-driven data ingestion - Review whether an S3 Lifecycle rule exists to abort incomplete multipart uploads - Consult with application owners or platform teams to confirm upload workflows and fault tolerance ## How to fix How to remove the waste. Define an S3 Lifecycle rule to automatically abort incomplete multipart uploads after a specified number of days (e.g., 7 days). This ensures that leftover parts are cleaned up and do not persist indefinitely. Include this rule as a default in all buckets handling large object uploads or automation-driven data pipelines. ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [S3 Multipart Upload Overview docs.aws.amazon.com](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/mpuoverview.html) - [Managing Incomplete Multipart Uploads Using Lifecycle Configuration docs.aws.amazon.com](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/mpu-abort-incomplete-mpu-lifecycle-config.html) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - AWS S3 CER-0229 ### [Excessive KMS Charges from Missing S3 Bucket Key Configuration](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/excessive-kms-charges-from-missing-s3-bucket-key-configuration) S3 buckets configured with SSE-KMS but without Bucket Keys generate a separate KMS request for each object operation. This behavior results in disproportionately high KMS request costs for data-intensive workloads such as analytics,... Storage - AWS S3 CER-0054 ### [Excessive CloudTrail Charges from Bulk S3 Deletes](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/excessive-cloudtrail-charges-from-bulk-s3-deletes) When large numbers of objects are deleted from S3 - such as during scripted cleanups or batch jobs that call DeleteObject or DeleteObjects-CloudTrail can log every individual delete operation if data event logging is enabled. This is... Storage - AWS S3 CER-0032 ### [Delayed Transition of Objects to Intelligent-Tiering in an S3 Bucket](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/delayed-transition-of-objects-to-intelligent-tiering-in-an-s3-bucket) Some S3 lifecycle policies are configured to transition objects from Standard storage to Intelligent-Tiering after a fixed number of days (e.g., 30 days). This creates a delay where objects reside in S3 Standard, incurring higher storage... Storage --- Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.