diff --git a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_8_0/indices.asciidoc b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_8_0/indices.asciidoc
index ef5cd25f81808..03acac7753539 100644
--- a/docs/reference/migration/migrate_8_0/indices.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/migration/migrate_8_0/indices.asciidoc
@@ -34,3 +34,12 @@ removed in 8.0.
 
 Synced flush was deprecated in 7.6 and is removed in 8.0. Use a regular flush
 instead as it has the same effect as a synced flush in 7.6 and later.
+
+
+[float]
+==== Indices with soft deletes disabled
+
+Creating indices with soft deletes disabled was deprecated in 7.6 and
+is no longer supported in 8.0. The setting index.soft_deletes.enabled
+can no longer be set to false. As the setting defaults to true, simply
+leave the setting unset.
diff --git a/qa/full-cluster-restart/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/FullClusterRestartIT.java b/qa/full-cluster-restart/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/FullClusterRestartIT.java
index 427383d7d8292..406099c82e09e 100644
--- a/qa/full-cluster-restart/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/FullClusterRestartIT.java
+++ b/qa/full-cluster-restart/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/FullClusterRestartIT.java
@@ -776,6 +776,11 @@ public void testSnapshotRestore() throws IOException {
         if (isRunningAgainstOldCluster()) {
             // Create the index
             count = between(200, 300);
+            Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder();
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+            }
+            createIndex(index, settings.build());
             indexRandomDocuments(count, true, true, i -> jsonBuilder().startObject().field("field", "value").endObject());
         } else {
             count = countOfIndexedRandomDocuments();
@@ -1257,11 +1262,12 @@ public void testPeerRecoveryRetentionLeases() throws IOException {
      */
     public void testOperationBasedRecovery() throws Exception {
         if (isRunningAgainstOldCluster()) {
-            createIndex(index, Settings.builder()
-                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
-                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1)
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
-                .build());
+            Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1);
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+            }
+            createIndex(index, settings.build());
             ensureGreen(index);
             int committedDocs = randomIntBetween(100, 200);
             for (int i = 0; i < committedDocs; i++) {
@@ -1309,4 +1315,77 @@ public void testTurnOffTranslogRetentionAfterUpgraded() throws Exception {
             ensurePeerRecoveryRetentionLeasesRenewedAndSynced(index);
         }
     }
+
+    public void testResize() throws Exception {
+        int numDocs;
+        if (isRunningAgainstOldCluster()) {
+            final Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder()
+                .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), 3)
+                .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), 1);
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false);
+            }
+            createIndex(index, settings.build());
+            numDocs = randomIntBetween(10, 1000);
+            for (int i = 0; i < numDocs; i++) {
+                indexDocument(Integer.toString(i));
+                if (rarely()) {
+                    flush(index, randomBoolean());
+                }
+            }
+            saveInfoDocument("num_doc_" + index, Integer.toString(numDocs));
+            ensureGreen(index);
+        } else {
+            ensureGreen(index);
+            numDocs = Integer.parseInt(loadInfoDocument("num_doc_" + index));
+            int moreDocs = randomIntBetween(0, 100);
+            for (int i = 0; i < moreDocs; i++) {
+                indexDocument(Integer.toString(numDocs + i));
+                if (rarely()) {
+                    flush(index, randomBoolean());
+                }
+            }
+            Request updateSettingsRequest = new Request("PUT", "/" + index + "/_settings");
+            updateSettingsRequest.setJsonEntity("{\"settings\": {\"index.blocks.write\": true}}");
+            client().performRequest(updateSettingsRequest);
+            {
+                final String target = index + "_shrunken";
+                Request shrinkRequest = new Request("PUT", "/" + index + "/_shrink/" + target);
+                Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1);
+                if (randomBoolean()) {
+                    settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true);
+                }
+                shrinkRequest.setJsonEntity("{\"settings\":" + Strings.toString(settings.build()) + "}");
+                client().performRequest(shrinkRequest);
+                ensureGreenLongWait(target);
+                assertNumHits(target, numDocs + moreDocs, 1);
+            }
+            {
+                final String target = index + "_split";
+                Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 6);
+                if (randomBoolean()) {
+                    settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true);
+                }
+                Request splitRequest = new Request("PUT", "/" + index + "/_split/" + target);
+                splitRequest.setJsonEntity("{\"settings\":" + Strings.toString(settings.build()) + "}");
+                client().performRequest(splitRequest);
+                ensureGreenLongWait(target);
+                assertNumHits(target, numDocs + moreDocs, 6);
+            }
+            {
+                final String target = index + "_cloned";
+                client().performRequest(new Request("PUT", "/" + index + "/_clone/" + target));
+                ensureGreenLongWait(target);
+                assertNumHits(target, numDocs + moreDocs, 3);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void assertNumHits(String index, int numHits, int totalShards) throws IOException {
+        Map<String, Object> resp = entityAsMap(client().performRequest(new Request("GET", "/" + index + "/_search")));
+        assertNoFailures(resp);
+        assertThat(XContentMapValues.extractValue("_shards.total", resp), equalTo(totalShards));
+        assertThat(XContentMapValues.extractValue("_shards.successful", resp), equalTo(totalShards));
+        assertThat(extractTotalHits(resp), equalTo(numHits));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/RecoveryIT.java b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/RecoveryIT.java
index d0892fd914f57..dfca9dd74a635 100644
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/RecoveryIT.java
+++ b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/RecoveryIT.java
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ public void testRecovery() throws Exception {
                 // before timing out
                 .put(INDEX_DELAYED_NODE_LEFT_TIMEOUT_SETTING.getKey(), "100ms")
                 .put(SETTING_ALLOCATION_MAX_RETRY.getKey(), "0"); // fail faster
-            if (randomBoolean()) {
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
                 settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
             }
             createIndex(index, settings.build());
@@ -327,8 +327,10 @@ public void testRetentionLeasesEstablishedWhenPromotingPrimary() throws Exceptio
                 .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), between(1, 5))
                 .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), between(1, 2)) // triggers nontrivial promotion
                 .put(INDEX_DELAYED_NODE_LEFT_TIMEOUT_SETTING.getKey(), "100ms")
-                .put(SETTING_ALLOCATION_MAX_RETRY.getKey(), "0") // fail faster
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+                .put(SETTING_ALLOCATION_MAX_RETRY.getKey(), "0"); // fail faster
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+            }
             createIndex(index, settings.build());
             int numDocs = randomInt(10);
             indexDocs(index, 0, numDocs);
@@ -350,8 +352,10 @@ public void testRetentionLeasesEstablishedWhenRelocatingPrimary() throws Excepti
                     .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), between(1, 5))
                     .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), between(0, 1))
                     .put(INDEX_DELAYED_NODE_LEFT_TIMEOUT_SETTING.getKey(), "100ms")
-                    .put(SETTING_ALLOCATION_MAX_RETRY.getKey(), "0") // fail faster
-                    .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+                    .put(SETTING_ALLOCATION_MAX_RETRY.getKey(), "0"); // fail faster
+                if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                    settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+                }
                 createIndex(index, settings.build());
                 int numDocs = randomInt(10);
                 indexDocs(index, 0, numDocs);
@@ -635,10 +639,13 @@ private void assertNoopRecoveries(String indexName, Predicate<String> targetNode
     public void testOperationBasedRecovery() throws Exception {
         final String index = "test_operation_based_recovery";
         if (CLUSTER_TYPE == ClusterType.OLD) {
-            createIndex(index, Settings.builder()
+            final Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder()
                 .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), 1)
-                .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), 2)
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean()).build());
+                .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), 2);
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
+                settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
+            }
+            createIndex(index, settings.build());
             ensureGreen(index);
             indexDocs(index, 0, randomIntBetween(100, 200));
             flush(index, randomBoolean());
@@ -714,7 +721,7 @@ public void testSoftDeletesDisabledWarning() throws Exception {
         if (CLUSTER_TYPE == ClusterType.OLD) {
             boolean softDeletesEnabled = true;
             Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder();
-            if (randomBoolean()) {
+            if (minimumNodeVersion().before(Version.V_8_0_0) && randomBoolean()) {
                 softDeletesEnabled = randomBoolean();
                 settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), softDeletesEnabled);
             }
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.create/10_basic.yml b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.create/10_basic.yml
index b5ce95c31a581..44ec99ce9f95d 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.create/10_basic.yml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.create/10_basic.yml
@@ -123,14 +123,10 @@
 ---
 "Create index without soft deletes":
   - skip:
-      version:  " - 7.5.99"
-      reason:   "indices without soft deletes are deprecated in 7.6"
-      features: "warnings"
-
+      version:  " - 7.9.99"
+      reason:   "indices without soft-deletes is no longer supported "
   - do:
-      warnings:
-        - Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is deprecated and will be removed in future Elasticsearch versions.
-          Please do not specify value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled] of index [test_index].
+      catch: /illegal_argument_exception/
       indices.create:
         index: test_index
         body:
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.stats/20_translog.yml b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.stats/20_translog.yml
index 0cc21eda1bdcd..fbbc49bbe59eb 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.stats/20_translog.yml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/main/resources/rest-api-spec/test/indices.stats/20_translog.yml
@@ -1,83 +1,5 @@
 ---
-"Translog retention without soft_deletes":
-  - skip:
-      version:  " - 7.5.99"
-      reason:   "indices without soft deletes are deprecated in 7.6"
-      features: "warnings"
-
-  - do:
-      indices.create:
-        index: test
-        body:
-          settings:
-            soft_deletes.enabled: false
-      warnings:
-        - Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is deprecated and will be removed in future Elasticsearch versions.
-          Please do not specify value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled] of index [test].
-  - do:
-      cluster.health:
-        wait_for_no_initializing_shards: true
-        wait_for_events: languid
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-  - set: { indices.test.primaries.translog.size_in_bytes: creation_size }
-
-  - do:
-      index:
-        index: test
-        id:    1
-        body:  { "foo": "bar" }
-
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-  - gt: { indices.test.primaries.translog.size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.operations: 1 }
-# we can't check this yet as creation size will contain two empty translog generations. A single
-# non empty generation with one op may be smaller or larger than that.
-#  - gt: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_operations: 1 }
-
-  - do:
-      indices.flush:
-        index: test
-
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-  - gt: { indices.test.primaries.translog.size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.operations: 1 }
-  ## creation translog size has some overhead due to an initial empty generation that will be trimmed later
-  - lt: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_operations: 0 }
-
-  - do:
-      indices.put_settings:
-        index: test
-        body:
-          index.translog.retention.size: -1
-          index.translog.retention.age: -1
-
-  - do:
-      indices.flush:
-        index: test
-        force: true # force flush as we don't have pending ops
-
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-  ## creation translog size has some overhead due to an initial empty generation that will be trimmed later
-  - lte: { indices.test.primaries.translog.size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.operations: 0 }
-  - lte: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_size_in_bytes: $creation_size }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_operations: 0 }
-
----
-"Translog retention with soft_deletes":
-  - skip:
-      version: " - 7.3.99"
-      reason:  "start ignoring translog retention policy with soft-deletes enabled in 7.4"
+"Translog retention":
   - do:
       indices.create:
         index: test
@@ -136,69 +58,7 @@
   - gte: { indices.test.primaries.translog.earliest_last_modified_age: 0 }
 
 ---
-"Translog stats on closed indices without soft-deletes":
-  - skip:
-      version: " - 7.5.99"
-      reason:  "indices without soft deletes are deprecated in 7.6"
-      features: "warnings"
-
-  - do:
-      indices.create:
-        index: test
-        body:
-          settings:
-            soft_deletes.enabled: false
-      warnings:
-        - Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is deprecated and will be removed in future Elasticsearch versions.
-          Please do not specify value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled] of index [test].
-
-  - do:
-      cluster.health:
-        wait_for_no_initializing_shards: true
-        wait_for_events: languid
-  - do:
-      index:
-        index: test
-        id:    1
-        body:  { "foo": "bar" }
-
-  - do:
-      index:
-        index: test
-        id:    2
-        body:  { "foo": "bar" }
-
-  - do:
-      index:
-        index: test
-        id:    3
-        body:  { "foo": "bar" }
-
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.operations: 3 }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_operations: 3 }
-
-  - do:
-      indices.close:
-        index: test
-        wait_for_active_shards: 1
-  - is_true: acknowledged
-
-  - do:
-      indices.stats:
-        metric: [ translog ]
-        expand_wildcards: all
-        forbid_closed_indices: false
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.operations: 3 }
-  - match: { indices.test.primaries.translog.uncommitted_operations: 0 }
-
----
-"Translog stats on closed indices with soft-deletes":
-  - skip:
-      version: " - 7.3.99"
-      reason:  "start ignoring translog retention policy with soft-deletes enabled in 7.4"
+"Translog stats on closed indices":
   - do:
       indices.create:
         index: test
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
index ded77ce4287d6..f605ee9de75eb 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexService.java
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ValidationException;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.compress.CompressedXContent;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.PathUtils;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.logging.DeprecationLogger;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.IndexScopedSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
@@ -104,7 +103,6 @@
  */
 public class MetaDataCreateIndexService {
     private static final Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(MetaDataCreateIndexService.class);
-    private static final DeprecationLogger DEPRECATION_LOGGER = new DeprecationLogger(logger);
 
     public static final int MAX_INDEX_NAME_BYTES = 255;
 
@@ -437,10 +435,10 @@ static Settings aggregateIndexSettings(ClusterState currentState, CreateIndexClu
          * that will be used to create this index.
          */
         MetaDataCreateIndexService.checkShardLimit(indexSettings, currentState);
-        if (indexSettings.getAsBoolean(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true) == false) {
-            DEPRECATION_LOGGER.deprecatedAndMaybeLog("soft_deletes_disabled",
-                "Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is deprecated and will be removed in future Elasticsearch versions. " +
-                "Please do not specify value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled] of index [" + request.index() + "].");
+        if (IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.get(indexSettings) == false
+            && IndexMetaData.SETTING_INDEX_VERSION_CREATED.get(indexSettings).onOrAfter(Version.V_8_0_0)) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is no longer supported. " +
+                "Please do not specify a value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled].");
         }
         return indexSettings;
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
index cce17b8f441e7..0ffbbedeea32e 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettings.java
@@ -227,11 +227,10 @@ public final class IndexSettings {
 
     /**
      * Specifies if the index should use soft-delete instead of hard-delete for update/delete operations.
-     * Soft-deletes is enabled by default for 7.0+ indices.
+     * Soft-deletes is enabled by default for 7.0 indices and mandatory for 8.0 indices.
      */
-    public static final Setting<Boolean> INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING = Setting.boolSetting("index.soft_deletes.enabled",
-        settings -> Boolean.toString(IndexMetaData.SETTING_INDEX_VERSION_CREATED.get(settings).onOrAfter(Version.V_7_0_0)),
-        Property.IndexScope, Property.Final);
+    public static final Setting<Boolean> INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING =
+        Setting.boolSetting("index.soft_deletes.enabled", true, Property.IndexScope, Property.Final);
 
     /**
      * Controls how many soft-deleted documents will be kept around before being merged away. Keeping more deleted
@@ -492,6 +491,7 @@ public IndexSettings(final IndexMetaData indexMetaData, final Settings nodeSetti
         mergeSchedulerConfig = new MergeSchedulerConfig(this);
         gcDeletesInMillis = scopedSettings.get(INDEX_GC_DELETES_SETTING).getMillis();
         softDeleteEnabled = scopedSettings.get(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING);
+        assert softDeleteEnabled || version.before(Version.V_8_0_0) : "soft deletes must be enabled in version " + version;
         softDeleteRetentionOperations = scopedSettings.get(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING);
         retentionLeaseMillis = scopedSettings.get(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_LEASE_PERIOD_SETTING).millis();
         warmerEnabled = scopedSettings.get(INDEX_WARMER_ENABLED_SETTING);
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexServiceTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexServiceTests.java
index e90f710af0f45..416491ce31ba5 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexServiceTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetaDataCreateIndexServiceTests.java
@@ -779,14 +779,12 @@ public void testBuildIndexMetadata() {
 
         Settings indexSettings = Settings.builder()
             .put("index.version.created", Version.CURRENT)
-            .put(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false)
             .put(SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
             .put(SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
             .build();
         List<AliasMetaData> aliases = List.of(AliasMetaData.builder("alias1").build());
         IndexMetaData indexMetaData = buildIndexMetaData("test", aliases, () -> null, indexSettings, 4, sourceIndexMetaData);
 
-        assertThat(indexMetaData.getSettings().getAsBoolean(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true), is(false));
         assertThat(indexMetaData.getAliases().size(), is(1));
         assertThat(indexMetaData.getAliases().keys().iterator().next().value, is("alias1"));
         assertThat("The source index primary term must be used", indexMetaData.primaryTerm(0), is(3L));
@@ -828,19 +826,15 @@ public void testGetIndexNumberOfRoutingShardsYieldsSourceNumberOfShards() {
         assertThat(targetRoutingNumberOfShards, is(6));
     }
 
-    public void testSoftDeletesDisabledDeprecation() {
-        request = new CreateIndexClusterStateUpdateRequest("create index", "test", "test");
-        request.settings(Settings.builder().put(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build());
-        aggregateIndexSettings(ClusterState.EMPTY_STATE, request, List.of(), Map.of(),
-            null, Settings.EMPTY, IndexScopedSettings.DEFAULT_SCOPED_SETTINGS);
-        assertWarnings("Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is deprecated and will be removed in future Elasticsearch versions. "
-            + "Please do not specify value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled] of index [test].");
-        request = new CreateIndexClusterStateUpdateRequest("create index", "test", "test");
-        if (randomBoolean()) {
-            request.settings(Settings.builder().put(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true).build());
-        }
-        aggregateIndexSettings(ClusterState.EMPTY_STATE, request, List.of(), Map.of(),
-            null, Settings.EMPTY, IndexScopedSettings.DEFAULT_SCOPED_SETTINGS);
+    public void testRejectWithSoftDeletesDisabled() {
+        final IllegalArgumentException error = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> {
+            request = new CreateIndexClusterStateUpdateRequest("create index", "test", "test");
+            request.settings(Settings.builder().put(INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build());
+            aggregateIndexSettings(ClusterState.EMPTY_STATE, request, List.of(), Map.of(),
+                null, Settings.EMPTY, IndexScopedSettings.DEFAULT_SCOPED_SETTINGS);
+        });
+        assertThat(error.getMessage(), equalTo("Creating indices with soft-deletes disabled is no longer supported. "
+            + "Please do not specify a value for setting [index.soft_deletes.enabled]."));
     }
 
     private IndexTemplateMetaData addMatchingTemplate(Consumer<IndexTemplateMetaData.Builder> configurator) {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gateway/ReplicaShardAllocatorIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gateway/ReplicaShardAllocatorIT.java
index cf0c766972e09..67c9c3a7844bb 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gateway/ReplicaShardAllocatorIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gateway/ReplicaShardAllocatorIT.java
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ public void testPreferCopyCanPerformNoopRecovery() throws Exception {
         assertAcked(
             client().admin().indices().prepareCreate(indexName)
                 .setSettings(Settings.builder()
-                    .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1)
                     .put(IndexSettings.FILE_BASED_RECOVERY_THRESHOLD_SETTING.getKey(), 1.0f)
@@ -206,7 +205,6 @@ public void testFullClusterRestartPerformNoopRecovery() throws Exception {
         assertAcked(
             client().admin().indices().prepareCreate(indexName)
                 .setSettings(Settings.builder()
-                    .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
                     .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_FLUSH_THRESHOLD_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(10, 100) + "kb")
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, numOfReplicas)
@@ -243,7 +241,6 @@ public void testPreferCopyWithHighestMatchingOperations() throws Exception {
         assertAcked(
             client().admin().indices().prepareCreate(indexName)
                 .setSettings(Settings.builder()
-                    .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
                     .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_FLUSH_THRESHOLD_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(10, 100) + "kb")
                     .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 1)
@@ -324,7 +321,6 @@ public void testPeerRecoveryForClosedIndices() throws Exception {
         createIndex(indexName, Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
             .put(IndexService.GLOBAL_CHECKPOINT_SYNC_INTERVAL_SETTING.getKey(), "100ms")
             .put(IndexService.RETENTION_LEASE_SYNC_INTERVAL_SETTING.getKey(), "100ms")
             .build());
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettingsTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettingsTests.java
index 1a19647ea7f78..57dfebbd231c0 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettingsTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/IndexSettingsTests.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting.Property;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.ByteSizeUnit;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.ByteSizeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.Translog;
@@ -572,38 +571,4 @@ public void testIgnoreTranslogRetentionSettingsIfSoftDeletesEnabled() {
         assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionAge().millis(), equalTo(-1L));
         assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionSize().getBytes(), equalTo(-1L));
     }
-
-    public void testUpdateTranslogRetentionSettingsWithSoftDeletesDisabled() {
-        Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false)
-            .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT);
-
-        TimeValue ageSetting = TimeValue.timeValueHours(12);
-        if (randomBoolean()) {
-            ageSetting = randomBoolean() ? TimeValue.MINUS_ONE : TimeValue.timeValueMillis(randomIntBetween(0, 10000));
-            settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_AGE_SETTING.getKey(), ageSetting);
-        }
-        ByteSizeValue sizeSetting = new ByteSizeValue(512, ByteSizeUnit.MB);
-        if (randomBoolean()) {
-            sizeSetting = randomBoolean() ? new ByteSizeValue(-1) : new ByteSizeValue(randomIntBetween(0, 1024));
-            settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), sizeSetting);
-        }
-        IndexMetaData metaData = newIndexMeta("index", settings.build());
-        IndexSettings indexSettings = new IndexSettings(metaData, Settings.EMPTY);
-        assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionAge(), equalTo(ageSetting));
-        assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionSize(), equalTo(sizeSetting));
-
-        Settings.Builder newSettings = Settings.builder().put(settings.build());
-        if (randomBoolean()) {
-            ageSetting = randomBoolean() ? TimeValue.MINUS_ONE : TimeValue.timeValueMillis(randomIntBetween(0, 10000));
-            newSettings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_AGE_SETTING.getKey(), ageSetting);
-        }
-        if (randomBoolean()) {
-            sizeSetting = randomBoolean() ? new ByteSizeValue(-1) : new ByteSizeValue(randomIntBetween(0, 1024));
-            newSettings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), sizeSetting);
-        }
-        indexSettings.updateIndexMetaData(newIndexMeta("index", newSettings.build()));
-        assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionAge(), equalTo(ageSetting));
-        assertThat(indexSettings.getTranslogRetentionSize(), equalTo(sizeSetting));
-    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
index 2d5dc675f025b..bcf20e1fd1f0b 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/InternalEngineTests.java
@@ -5477,8 +5477,9 @@ public long softUpdateDocuments(Term term, Iterable<? extends Iterable<? extends
         Path translogPath = createTempDir();
         List<Engine.Operation> operations = generateHistoryOnReplica(between(1, 500), randomBoolean(), randomBoolean(), randomBoolean());
         final IndexMetaData indexMetaData = IndexMetaData.builder(defaultSettings.getIndexMetaData())
-            .settings(Settings.builder().put(defaultSettings.getSettings()).put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false))
-            .build();
+            .settings(Settings.builder().put(defaultSettings.getSettings())
+                .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, VersionUtils.randomPreviousCompatibleVersion(random(), Version.V_8_0_0))
+                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false)).build();
         final IndexSettings indexSettings = IndexSettingsModule.newIndexSettings(indexMetaData);
         try (Store store = createStore()) {
             EngineConfig config = config(indexSettings, store, translogPath, NoMergePolicy.INSTANCE, null, null, globalCheckpoint::get);
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/RecoveryDuringReplicationTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/RecoveryDuringReplicationTests.java
index 53a96e531585a..ec10e2a5e8444 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/RecoveryDuringReplicationTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/RecoveryDuringReplicationTests.java
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.uid.Versions;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentType;
-import org.elasticsearch.core.internal.io.IOUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.VersionType;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.engine.DocIdSeqNoAndSource;
@@ -108,68 +107,6 @@ public void testIndexingDuringFileRecovery() throws Exception {
         }
     }
 
-    public void testRecoveryOfDisconnectedReplica() throws Exception {
-        Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build();
-        try (ReplicationGroup shards = createGroup(1, settings)) {
-            shards.startAll();
-            int docs = shards.indexDocs(randomInt(50));
-            shards.flush();
-            final IndexShard originalReplica = shards.getReplicas().get(0);
-            for (int i = 0; i < randomInt(2); i++) {
-                final int indexedDocs = shards.indexDocs(randomInt(5));
-                docs += indexedDocs;
-
-                final boolean flush = randomBoolean();
-                if (flush) {
-                    originalReplica.flush(new FlushRequest());
-                }
-            }
-
-            // simulate a background global checkpoint sync at which point we expect the global checkpoint to advance on the replicas
-            shards.syncGlobalCheckpoint();
-            long globalCheckpointOnReplica = originalReplica.getLastSyncedGlobalCheckpoint();
-            Optional<SequenceNumbers.CommitInfo> safeCommitOnReplica =
-                originalReplica.store().findSafeIndexCommit(globalCheckpointOnReplica);
-            assertTrue(safeCommitOnReplica.isPresent());
-            shards.removeReplica(originalReplica);
-
-            final int missingOnReplica = shards.indexDocs(randomInt(5));
-            docs += missingOnReplica;
-
-            final boolean translogTrimmed;
-            if (randomBoolean()) {
-                shards.flush();
-                translogTrimmed = randomBoolean();
-                if (translogTrimmed) {
-                    final Translog translog = getTranslog(shards.getPrimary());
-                    translog.getDeletionPolicy().setRetentionAgeInMillis(0);
-                    translog.trimUnreferencedReaders();
-                }
-            } else {
-                translogTrimmed = false;
-            }
-            originalReplica.close("disconnected", false);
-            IOUtils.close(originalReplica.store());
-            final IndexShard recoveredReplica =
-                shards.addReplicaWithExistingPath(originalReplica.shardPath(), originalReplica.routingEntry().currentNodeId());
-            shards.recoverReplica(recoveredReplica);
-            if (translogTrimmed && missingOnReplica > 0) {
-                // replica has something to catch up with, but since we trimmed the primary translog, we should fall back to full recovery
-                assertThat(recoveredReplica.recoveryState().getIndex().fileDetails(), not(empty()));
-            } else {
-                assertThat(recoveredReplica.recoveryState().getIndex().fileDetails(), empty());
-                assertThat(recoveredReplica.recoveryState().getTranslog().recoveredOperations(),
-                    equalTo(Math.toIntExact(docs - 1 - safeCommitOnReplica.get().localCheckpoint)));
-                assertThat(recoveredReplica.recoveryState().getTranslog().totalLocal(),
-                    equalTo(Math.toIntExact(globalCheckpointOnReplica - safeCommitOnReplica.get().localCheckpoint)));
-            }
-
-            docs += shards.indexDocs(randomInt(5));
-
-            shards.assertAllEqual(docs);
-        }
-    }
-
     /*
      * Simulate a scenario with two replicas where one of the replicas receives an extra document, the other replica is promoted on primary
      * failure, the receiving replica misses the primary/replica re-sync and then recovers from the primary. We expect that a
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardIT.java
index 86fa8c613b628..4f90b042ebd10 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardIT.java
@@ -844,7 +844,6 @@ public void testLimitNumberOfRetainedTranslogFiles() throws Exception {
         Settings.Builder settings = Settings.builder()
             .put(SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
             .put(SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false)
             .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_TOTAL_FILES_SETTING.getKey(), translogRetentionTotalFiles);
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             settings.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_TRANSLOG_RETENTION_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), new ByteSizeValue(between(1, 1024 * 1024)));
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardRetentionLeaseTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardRetentionLeaseTests.java
index 31bdfce261ad9..28995efc4be20 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardRetentionLeaseTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardRetentionLeaseTests.java
@@ -303,21 +303,6 @@ public void testRetentionLeaseStats() throws IOException {
         }
     }
 
-    public void testRetentionLeasesActionsFailWithSoftDeletesDisabled() throws Exception {
-        IndexShard shard = newStartedShard(true, Settings.builder().put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build());
-        assertThat(expectThrows(AssertionError.class, () -> shard.addRetentionLease(randomAlphaOfLength(10),
-            randomLongBetween(SequenceNumbers.NO_OPS_PERFORMED, Long.MAX_VALUE), "test", ActionListener.wrap(() -> {}))).getMessage(),
-            equalTo("retention leases requires soft deletes but [index] does not have soft deletes enabled"));
-        assertThat(expectThrows(AssertionError.class, () -> shard.renewRetentionLease(
-            randomAlphaOfLength(10), randomLongBetween(SequenceNumbers.NO_OPS_PERFORMED, Long.MAX_VALUE), "test")).getMessage(),
-            equalTo("retention leases requires soft deletes but [index] does not have soft deletes enabled"));
-        assertThat(expectThrows(AssertionError.class, () -> shard.removeRetentionLease(
-            randomAlphaOfLength(10), ActionListener.wrap(() -> {}))).getMessage(),
-            equalTo("retention leases requires soft deletes but [index] does not have soft deletes enabled"));
-        shard.syncRetentionLeases();
-        closeShards(shard);
-    }
-
     private void assertRetentionLeases(
             final IndexShard indexShard,
             final int size,
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
index 6a8a63ce17f32..39f120b2fa3a3 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTests.java
@@ -2113,8 +2113,7 @@ public void testPrimaryHandOffUpdatesLocalCheckpoint() throws IOException {
         }
         IndexShardTestCase.updateRoutingEntry(primarySource,
             primarySource.routingEntry().relocate(randomAlphaOfLength(10), -1));
-        final IndexShard primaryTarget = newShard(primarySource.routingEntry().getTargetRelocatingShard(), Settings.builder()
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), primarySource.indexSettings().isSoftDeleteEnabled()).build());
+        final IndexShard primaryTarget = newShard(primarySource.routingEntry().getTargetRelocatingShard());
         updateMappings(primaryTarget, primarySource.indexSettings().getIndexMetaData());
         recoverReplica(primaryTarget, primarySource, true);
 
@@ -2128,13 +2127,11 @@ public void testPrimaryHandOffUpdatesLocalCheckpoint() throws IOException {
 
     /* This test just verifies that we fill up local checkpoint up to max seen seqID on primary recovery */
     public void testRecoverFromStoreWithNoOps() throws IOException {
-        final Settings settings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean()).build();
-        final IndexShard shard = newStartedShard(true, settings);
+        final IndexShard shard = newStartedShard(true);
         indexDoc(shard, "_doc", "0");
         indexDoc(shard, "_doc", "1");
         // start a replica shard and index the second doc
-        final IndexShard otherShard = newStartedShard(false, settings);
+        final IndexShard otherShard = newStartedShard(false);
         updateMappings(otherShard, shard.indexSettings().getIndexMetaData());
         SourceToParse sourceToParse = new SourceToParse(shard.shardId().getIndexName(), "1",
             new BytesArray("{}"), XContentType.JSON);
@@ -2314,8 +2311,7 @@ public void testRecoveryFailsAfterMovingToRelocatedState() throws InterruptedExc
 
     public void testRestoreShard() throws IOException {
         final IndexShard source = newStartedShard(true);
-        IndexShard target = newStartedShard(true, Settings.builder()
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), source.indexSettings().isSoftDeleteEnabled()).build());
+        IndexShard target = newStartedShard(true);
 
         indexDoc(source, "_doc", "0");
         EngineTestCase.generateNewSeqNo(source.getEngine()); // create a gap in the history
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandlerTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandlerTests.java
index 999028cb083fd..8ddb59ef5db1a 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandlerTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoverySourceHandlerTests.java
@@ -446,7 +446,6 @@ public void testThrowExceptionOnPrimaryRelocatedBeforePhase1Started() throws IOE
         final IndexMetaData.Builder indexMetaData = IndexMetaData.builder("test").settings(Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, between(0,5))
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, between(1,5))
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, VersionUtils.randomVersion(random()))
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_INDEX_UUID, UUIDs.randomBase64UUID(random())));
         if (randomBoolean()) {
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTests.java
index 05aebcc459a6e..5cadc31d7946e 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/recovery/RecoveryTests.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.index.NoMergePolicy;
 import org.apache.lucene.store.AlreadyClosedException;
 import org.elasticsearch.ExceptionsHelper;
+import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.flush.FlushRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.bulk.BulkShardRequest;
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.store.Store;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.SnapshotMatchers;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.Translog;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.VersionUtils;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -132,7 +134,9 @@ public void testRecoveryWithOutOfOrderDeleteWithTranslog() throws Exception {
          * - index #5
          * - If flush and the translog retention disabled, delete #1 will be removed while index #0 is still retained and replayed.
          */
-        Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build();
+        Settings settings = Settings.builder()
+            .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, VersionUtils.randomPreviousCompatibleVersion(random(), Version.V_8_0_0))
+            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false).build();
         try (ReplicationGroup shards = createGroup(1, settings)) {
             shards.startAll();
             // create out of order delete and index op on replica
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/OpenCloseIndexIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/OpenCloseIndexIT.java
index c95b61f7e6a90..df908fd4f8cce 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/OpenCloseIndexIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/indices/state/OpenCloseIndexIT.java
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexNotFoundException;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
 import org.elasticsearch.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
@@ -354,8 +353,6 @@ public void testTranslogStats() throws Exception {
         createIndex(indexName, Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
             .build());
-        boolean softDeletesEnabled = IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.get(
-            client().admin().indices().prepareGetSettings(indexName).get().getIndexToSettings().get(indexName));
 
         final int nbDocs = randomIntBetween(0, 50);
         int uncommittedOps = 0;
@@ -375,8 +372,8 @@ public void testTranslogStats() throws Exception {
         assertBusy(() -> {
             IndicesStatsResponse stats = client().admin().indices().prepareStats(indexName).clear().setTranslog(true).get();
             assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName), notNullValue());
-            assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().estimatedNumberOfOperations(), equalTo(
-                softDeletesEnabled ? uncommittedTranslogOps : nbDocs));
+            assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().estimatedNumberOfOperations(),
+                equalTo(uncommittedTranslogOps));
             assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().getUncommittedOperations(), equalTo(uncommittedTranslogOps));
         });
 
@@ -386,8 +383,7 @@ public void testTranslogStats() throws Exception {
         IndicesStatsResponse stats = client().admin().indices().prepareStats(indexName).setIndicesOptions(indicesOptions)
             .clear().setTranslog(true).get();
         assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName), notNullValue());
-        assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().estimatedNumberOfOperations(),
-            equalTo(softDeletesEnabled ? 0 : nbDocs));
+        assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().estimatedNumberOfOperations(), equalTo(0));
         assertThat(stats.getIndex(indexName).getPrimaries().getTranslog().getUncommittedOperations(), equalTo(0));
     }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationIT.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationIT.java
index 7a3de4f4c977e..2a29582fdefd3 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationIT.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/recovery/RelocationIT.java
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentType;
 import org.elasticsearch.env.NodeEnvironment;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexService;
-import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.ReplicationTracker;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.seqno.RetentionLease;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexEventListener;
@@ -627,7 +626,6 @@ public void testRelocationEstablishedPeerRecoveryRetentionLeases() throws Except
         ensureStableCluster(halfNodes * 2);
         assertAcked(
             client().admin().indices().prepareCreate(indexName).setSettings(Settings.builder()
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
                 .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, randomIntBetween(0, halfNodes - 1))
                 .put("index.routing.allocation.include.color", "blue")));
         ensureGreen("test");
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineTestCase.java
index 6ec344783c8f2..f2a44b766e73e 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/engine/EngineTestCase.java
@@ -184,9 +184,7 @@ protected Settings indexSettings() {
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT)
             .put(IndexSettings.MAX_REFRESH_LISTENERS_PER_SHARD.getKey(),
                 between(10, 10 * IndexSettings.MAX_REFRESH_LISTENERS_PER_SHARD.get(Settings.EMPTY)))
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(),
-                randomBoolean() ? IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.get(Settings.EMPTY) : between(0, 1000))
+            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(), between(0, 1000))
             .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
index c067c0717dcce..54bc1c3dfcda2 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/replication/ESIndexLevelReplicationTestCase.java
@@ -133,9 +133,7 @@ protected IndexMetaData buildIndexMetaData(int replicas, Settings indexSettings,
         Settings settings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT)
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, replicas)
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(),
-                randomBoolean() ? IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.get(Settings.EMPTY) : between(0, 1000))
+            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(), between(0, 1000))
             .put(indexSettings)
             .build();
         IndexMetaData.Builder metaData = IndexMetaData.builder(index.getName())
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
index d0c5bf1ca53a1..c215078635915 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/shard/IndexShardTestCase.java
@@ -249,7 +249,6 @@ protected IndexShard newShard(
         Settings indexSettings = Settings.builder().put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, Version.CURRENT)
                 .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
                 .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
                 .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(),
                     randomBoolean() ? IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.get(Settings.EMPTY) : between(0, 1000))
                 .put(settings)
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
index 038efa4d4159f..dd4f937039afc 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESIntegTestCase.java
@@ -670,7 +670,6 @@ public Settings indexSettings() {
         }
         // always default delayed allocation to 0 to make sure we have tests are not delayed
         builder.put(UnassignedInfo.INDEX_DELAYED_NODE_LEFT_TIMEOUT_SETTING.getKey(), 0);
-        builder.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean());
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             builder.put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(), between(0, 1000));
         }
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESSingleNodeTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESSingleNodeTestCase.java
index 6265dbe559fa5..79ded94250da6 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESSingleNodeTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ESSingleNodeTestCase.java
@@ -95,10 +95,8 @@ protected void startNode(long seed) throws Exception {
             .preparePutTemplate("random-soft-deletes-template")
             .setPatterns(Collections.singletonList("*"))
             .setOrder(0)
-            .setSettings(Settings.builder().put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), randomBoolean())
-                .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(),
-                    randomBoolean() ? IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.get(Settings.EMPTY) : between(0, 1000))
-            ).get();
+            .setSettings(Settings.builder().put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_RETENTION_OPERATIONS_SETTING.getKey(), between(0, 1000)))
+            .get();
     }
 
     private static void stopNode() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/AutoFollowIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/AutoFollowIT.java
index f944dd70813bc..dcbcad3b2048d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/AutoFollowIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/AutoFollowIT.java
@@ -358,41 +358,6 @@ public void testConflictingPatterns() throws Exception {
         assertFalse(ESIntegTestCase.indexExists("copy-logs-201801", followerClient()));
     }
 
-    public void testAutoFollowSoftDeletesDisabled() throws Exception {
-        putAutoFollowPatterns("my-pattern1", new String[] {"logs-*"});
-
-        // Soft deletes are disabled:
-        Settings leaderIndexSettings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), false)
-            .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), 1)
-            .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), 0)
-            .build();
-        createLeaderIndex("logs-20200101", leaderIndexSettings);
-        assertBusy(() -> {
-            AutoFollowStats autoFollowStats = getAutoFollowStats();
-            assertThat(autoFollowStats.getNumberOfSuccessfulFollowIndices(), equalTo(0L));
-            assertThat(autoFollowStats.getNumberOfFailedFollowIndices(), equalTo(1L));
-            assertThat(autoFollowStats.getRecentAutoFollowErrors().size(), equalTo(1));
-            ElasticsearchException failure  = autoFollowStats.getRecentAutoFollowErrors().firstEntry().getValue().v2();
-            assertThat(failure.getMessage(), equalTo("index [logs-20200101] cannot be followed, " +
-                "because soft deletes are not enabled"));
-            assertFalse(ESIntegTestCase.indexExists("copy-logs-20200101", followerClient()));
-        });
-
-        // Soft deletes are enabled:
-        leaderIndexSettings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true)
-            .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS_SETTING.getKey(), 1)
-            .put(IndexMetaData.INDEX_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS_SETTING.getKey(), 0)
-            .build();
-        createLeaderIndex("logs-20200102", leaderIndexSettings);
-        assertBusy(() -> {
-            AutoFollowStats autoFollowStats = getAutoFollowStats();
-            assertThat(autoFollowStats.getNumberOfSuccessfulFollowIndices(), equalTo(1L));
-            assertTrue(ESIntegTestCase.indexExists("copy-logs-20200102", followerClient()));
-        });
-    }
-
     public void testPauseAndResumeAutoFollowPattern() throws Exception {
         final Settings leaderIndexSettings = Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), true)
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/LocalIndexFollowingIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/LocalIndexFollowingIT.java
index 3a52950d1788b..b623be7ccbe0c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/LocalIndexFollowingIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ccr/LocalIndexFollowingIT.java
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentType;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexSettings;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.ESIntegTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.CcrSingleNodeTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ccr.action.CcrStatsAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ccr.action.FollowStatsAction;
@@ -78,21 +77,6 @@ public void testFollowIndex() throws Exception {
         ensureEmptyWriteBuffers();
     }
 
-    public void testDoNotCreateFollowerIfLeaderDoesNotHaveSoftDeletes() throws Exception {
-        final String leaderIndexSettings = getIndexSettings(2, 0,
-            singletonMap(IndexSettings.INDEX_SOFT_DELETES_SETTING.getKey(), "false"));
-        assertAcked(client().admin().indices().prepareCreate("leader-index").setSource(leaderIndexSettings, XContentType.JSON));
-        ResumeFollowAction.Request followRequest = getResumeFollowRequest("follower");
-        followRequest.setFollowerIndex("follower-index");
-        PutFollowAction.Request putFollowRequest = getPutFollowRequest("leader", "follower");
-        putFollowRequest.setLeaderIndex("leader-index");
-        putFollowRequest.setFollowerIndex("follower-index");
-        IllegalArgumentException error = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> client().execute(PutFollowAction.INSTANCE, putFollowRequest).actionGet());
-        assertThat(error.getMessage(), equalTo("leader index [leader-index] does not have soft deletes enabled"));
-        assertThat(ESIntegTestCase.indexExists("follower-index", client()), equalTo(false));
-    }
-
     public void testRemoveRemoteConnection() throws Exception {
         PutAutoFollowPatternAction.Request request = new PutAutoFollowPatternAction.Request();
         request.setName("my_pattern");