GCP · Free CLI guide · kloudaudit.eu

How to Find Idle GCP VM Instances Using gcloud CLI

⚡ Quick answer — copy and run

gcloud compute instances list --format=table
1

Make sure you have the AWS CLI configured: aws configure

2

Run the command above. Review the output for resources to clean up.

3

Delete or stop resources that are confirmed idle or unused.

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Why this matters

GCP charges for VM instances even when they are sitting idle. Sustained use discounts only apply to running instances — stopped instances still charge for attached persistent disks.

⚠ Always verify resources are genuinely unused before deleting. Check with your team — a "stopped" instance may be intentional.

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