The default PVC reclaim policy is Delete https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubernetes-api/config-and-storage-resources/persistent-volume-v1/#PersistentVolume

The default PVC reclaim policy is Delete https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubernetes-api/config-and-storage-resources/persistent-volume-v1/#PersistentVolumeSpec https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubernetes-api/config-a.... The PV will be retained after deletion of the PVC by adding persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain Alternatively set the reclaimPolicy on the StorageClass https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/storage-classes/#reclaim-policy https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/storage-classes/... for retaining all PVs of that SC after deletion of a PVC: reclaimPolicy: Retain If Lily Cohen would have used either, recovery would have been possible. Of course then Lily would have to explicitly delete the PVs to prevent getting billed for the storage.