How can I drop a collection in MongoDB with two dashes in the name?

To drop a collection in MongoDB that has special characters like two dashes in its name, you need to use the getCollection() method instead of direct dot notation, since MongoDB cannot parse collection names with special characters using standard syntax.

Syntax

db.getCollection("collectionNameWithSpecialCharacters").drop();

Create Sample Collection

First, let's create a collection with two dashes in the name ?

db.createCollection("company--EmployeeInformation");

{ "ok" : 1 }

Insert Sample Data

Add some documents to the collection ?

db.getCollection("company--EmployeeInformation").insertMany([
    {"CompanyName": "Amazon", "EmployeeName": "Chris"},
    {"CompanyName": "Google", "EmployeeName": "Robert"}
]);

{
    "acknowledged" : true,
    "insertedIds" : [
        ObjectId("5cd7c5ff6d78f205348bc654"),
        ObjectId("5cd7c60b6d78f205348bc655")
    ]
}

Verify Collection Contents

Display all documents from the collection ?

db.getCollection("company--EmployeeInformation").find();

{ "_id" : ObjectId("5cd7c5ff6d78f205348bc654"), "CompanyName" : "Amazon", "EmployeeName" : "Chris" }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5cd7c60b6d78f205348bc655"), "CompanyName" : "Google", "EmployeeName" : "Robert" }

Drop the Collection

Now drop the collection with two dashes in the name ?

db.getCollection("company--EmployeeInformation").drop();

true

Key Points

• Use getCollection() for collection names with special characters like dashes, spaces, or numbers.
• The drop() method returns true if the collection was successfully dropped.
• Direct dot notation like db.company--EmployeeInformation.drop() will not work due to parsing issues.

Conclusion

When dropping MongoDB collections with special characters in their names, always use db.getCollection("collection-name").drop(). This method handles special characters that would otherwise cause syntax errors with standard dot notation.