Remove-RetentionPolicy
This cmdlet is available in on-premises Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings might be exclusive to one environment or the other.
Use the Remove-RetentionPolicy cmdlet to remove a retention policy.
For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.
Syntax
Default (Default)
Remove-RetentionPolicy
[-Identity] <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>
[-Confirm]
[-DomainController <Fqdn>]
[-Force]
[-WhatIf]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
Retention policies are used to apply message retention settings to folders and items in a mailbox. The Remove-RetentionPolicy cmdlet removes an existing retention policy.
If you remove a retention policy that's assigned to users and they don't have another retention policy assigned, messages in those mailboxes might never expire. This might be a violation of the organization's messaging retention policies. When you attempt to remove a policy that's assigned to users, Microsoft Exchange displays a confirmation message indicating that the policy is assigned to users. This message is in addition to the confirmation prompt displayed when removing a retention policy.
You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although this article lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you might not have access to some parameters if they aren't included in the permissions assigned to you. To find the permissions required to run any cmdlet or parameter in your organization, see Find the permissions required to run any Exchange cmdlet.
Examples
Example 1
Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical"
This example removes the retention policy Business Critical.
Example 2
Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical" -Confirm:$false
This example removes the retention policy Business Critical and suppresses the confirmation prompt.
Example 3
Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical" -Confirm:$false -Force
This example removes the retention policy Business Critical, which is assigned to users and suppresses the confirmation prompt.
Parameters
-Confirm
Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE, Exchange Online
The Confirm switch specifies whether to show or hide the confirmation prompt. How this switch affects the cmdlet depends on if the cmdlet requires confirmation before proceeding.
- Destructive cmdlets (for example, Remove-* cmdlets) have a built-in pause that forces you to acknowledge the command before proceeding. For these cmdlets, you can skip the confirmation prompt by using this exact syntax:
-Confirm:$false. - Most other cmdlets (for example, New-* and Set-* cmdlets) don't have a built-in pause. For these cmdlets, specifying the Confirm switch without a value introduces a pause that forces you acknowledge the command before proceeding.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | cf |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-DomainController
Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE
This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
The DomainController parameter specifies the domain controller that's used by this cmdlet to read data from or write data to Active Directory. You identify the domain controller by its fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, dc01.contoso.com.
Parameter properties
| Type: | Fqdn |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Force
Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE, Exchange Online
The Force switch hides warning or confirmation messages. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
Use this switch to hide the confirmation prompt when you remove a retention policy that's assigned to users. Removing a policy that's assigned to users results in those users not having any retention policy.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Identity
Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE, Exchange Online
The Identity parameter specifies the retention policy name.
Parameter properties
| Type: | MailboxPolicyIdParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | 1 |
| Mandatory: | True |
| Value from pipeline: | True |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-WhatIf
Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE, Exchange Online
The WhatIf switch simulates the actions of the command. You can use this switch to view the changes that would occur without actually applying those changes. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | wi |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
CommonParameters
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.
Inputs
Input types
To see the input types that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Input Type field for a cmdlet is blank, the cmdlet doesn't accept input data.
Outputs
Output types
To see the return types, which are also known as output types, that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Output Type field is blank, the cmdlet doesn't return data.