diff --git a/docs/sources/configuration/_index.md b/docs/sources/configuration/_index.md
index 1c2689d457..9ef4176c59 100644
--- a/docs/sources/configuration/_index.md
+++ b/docs/sources/configuration/_index.md
@@ -2184,6 +2184,23 @@ compacts index shards to more performant forms.
 # The hash ring configuration used by compactors to elect a single instance for running compactions
 # The CLI flags prefix for this block config is: boltdb.shipper.compactor.ring
 [compactor_ring: <ring>]
+
+# Number of tables that compactor will try to compact. Newer tables
+# are chosen when this is less than the number of tables available
+# CLI flag:  -boltdb.shipper.compact.tables-to-compact
+[tables_to_compact: <int> | default: 0]
+
+# Do not compact N latest tables.  Together with
+# -boltdb.shipper.compactor.run-once and
+# -boltdb.shipper.compactor.tables-to-compact, this is useful when
+# clearing compactor backlogs.
+# CLI flag: -boltdb.shipper.compact.skip-latest-n-tables
+[skip_latest_n_tables: <int> | default: 0]
+
+# The hash ring configuration used by compactors to elect a single instance for running compactions
+# The CLI flags prefix for this block config is: boltdb.shipper.compactor.ring
+[compactor_ring: <ring>]
+
 ```
 
 ## limits_config
diff --git a/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor.go b/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor.go
index 6d6ff77438..f409757a47 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -85,7 +86,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	DeleteMaxInterval         time.Duration   `yaml:"delete_max_interval"`
 	MaxCompactionParallelism  int             `yaml:"max_compaction_parallelism"`
 	CompactorRing             util.RingConfig `yaml:"compactor_ring,omitempty"`
-	RunOnce                   bool            `yaml:"-"`
+	RunOnce                   bool            `yaml:"_"`
+	TablesToCompact           int             `yaml:"tables_to_compact"`
+	SkipLatestNTables         int             `yaml:"skip_latest_n_tables"`
 
 	// Deprecated
 	DeletionMode string `yaml:"deletion_mode"`
@@ -112,6 +115,9 @@ func (cfg *Config) RegisterFlags(f *flag.FlagSet) {
 	flagext.DeprecatedFlag(f, "boltdb.shipper.compactor.deletion-mode", "Deprecated. This has been moved to the deletion_mode per tenant configuration.", util_log.Logger)
 
 	cfg.CompactorRing.RegisterFlagsWithPrefix("boltdb.shipper.compactor.", "collectors/", f)
+	f.IntVar(&cfg.TablesToCompact, "boltdb.shipper.compactor.tables-to-compact", 0, "The number of most recent tables to compact in a single run. Default: all")
+	f.IntVar(&cfg.SkipLatestNTables, "boltdb.shipper.compactor.skip-latest-n-tables", 0, "Skip compacting latest N tables")
+
 }
 
 // Validate verifies the config does not contain inappropriate values
@@ -558,6 +564,17 @@ func (c *Compactor) RunCompaction(ctx context.Context, applyRetention bool) erro
 	c.indexStorageClient.RefreshIndexListCache(ctx)
 
 	tables, err := c.indexStorageClient.ListTables(ctx)
+
+	// process most recent tables first
+	sortTablesByRange(tables)
+
+	// apply passed in compaction limits
+	if c.cfg.SkipLatestNTables <= len(tables) {
+		tables = tables[c.cfg.SkipLatestNTables:]
+	}
+	if c.cfg.TablesToCompact > 0 && c.cfg.TablesToCompact < len(tables) {
+		tables = tables[:c.cfg.TablesToCompact]
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		status = statusFailure
 		return err
@@ -695,6 +712,19 @@ func (c *Compactor) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	c.ring.ServeHTTP(w, req)
 }
 
+func sortTablesByRange(tables []string) {
+	tableRanges := make(map[string]model.Interval)
+	for _, table := range tables {
+		tableRanges[table] = retention.ExtractIntervalFromTableName(table)
+	}
+
+	sort.Slice(tables, func(i, j int) bool {
+		// less than if start time is after produces a most recent first sort order
+		return tableRanges[tables[i]].Start.After(tableRanges[tables[j]].Start)
+	})
+
+}
+
 func schemaPeriodForTable(cfg config.SchemaConfig, tableName string) (config.PeriodConfig, bool) {
 	// first round removes configs that does not have the prefix.
 	candidates := []config.PeriodConfig{}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor_test.go b/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor_test.go
index be20594af6..5b5a3031d1 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/stores/indexshipper/compactor/compactor_test.go
@@ -174,3 +174,14 @@ func Test_schemaPeriodForTable(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_tableSort(t *testing.T) {
+	intervals := []string{
+		"index_19191",
+		"index_19195",
+		"index_19192",
+	}
+
+	sortTablesByRange(intervals)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"index_19195", "index_19192", "index_19191"}, intervals)
+}