When a Pod no longer needs to use the PersistentVolume, the PVC can simply be deleted. When this happens, what happens to the data stored inside the storage media depends on the PersistentVolume's Reclaim Policy.
If the Reclaim Policy is set to:
- Retain, the PV is retained—the PVC is simply released/unbounded from the PV. The data in the storage media is retained.
- Delete, it deletes both the PV and the data in the storage media.