Error when using Remove-SPOSite command on PowerShell

Question

Error when using Remove-SPOSite command on PowerShell

Hi,

I'm working with Sharepoint Online, since past year I was creating Sharepoint sites from a personal powershell script, using PnP and Sharepoint modules.

It was working fine but since last week I'm getting this error:

Remove-SPOSite : Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))

I tried it with differents accounts (all Global administrators), on differents sites and in differents tenants, but the error keeps there.
Also, all the other commands are working fine, including Remove-SPODeletedSite.

Could have it been an update on Sharepoint Online? Is there someone else with the same problem?

How can I solve this?

PD: I need to use this command, cause I create sites from a template, so then I have to change the url and reuse the original when I run the script again

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Answer 1

Simone Sessler 91

Thank you for all the comments on this thread! I was able to finally successfully remove my redirect URL following these steps:

First, Unlock the site:
Set-SPOSite https://yoursharepointdomain.com/sites/oldsite/ -LockState Unlock

Next, Set yourself as the Owner:
Set-SPOSite -Identity https://yoursharepointdomain.com/sites/oldsite/ -Owner myemailaddress@tiedtlaw email .com -NoWait

Lastly, Remove the redirect URL:
Remove-SPOSite -Identity https://yoursharepointdomain.com/sites/oldsite/

Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT 26 Reputation points

2021-09-01T19:48:24.317+00:00

That worked so good! I solved the issue following your steps.

Thanks so much! @SimoneSessler-4461
Simone Sessler 91 Reputation points

2021-09-02T06:25:27.047+00:00

Awesome! Teamwork! Your post and the answers given helped me connect a few pieces together. I am curious if SP changed anything recently as I was able to remove redirect URLs several months ago without needing to Unlock the site and add myself as Owner again as it turns out is needed now. Anyway, so glad this solution worked for us.
LeenaL 1 Reputation point

2021-09-03T08:04:58.57+00:00

Thanks! This really helped!

Answer 2

Elsie Lu_MSFT 9,801

Hi @Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT ,

Can you manually delete the site in the Admin center? Has your tenant recently created a retention policy?

You can go to the Admin center to check whether you can manually delete the site. If there is a retention policy, you can see the following prompt:

Please refer to this thread for more information about how to solve this issue:
This site has a compliance policy set to block deletion

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

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Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT 26 Reputation points

2021-08-30T15:48:11.303+00:00

Hi ElsieLu, thanks for your reply

I can remove the site manually, but I need to use the command.

Im creating sites from a PowerShell script with always the same name, so then when its created, I change the name for other, and I use that command to clear the previous name and reuse it.

For example, I create a Sharepoint site, if I change the name Im can't reuse the previous name in other site, until I clear it with that Remove-SPOSite command.

Anyways, I'll check it and comment to you

EDIT: I don't have any retention policy

Elsie Lu_MSFT 9,801

Hi @Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT ,

Thanks for the reply. You can try the pnp command to see if it works.

$username="<admin email address>"  
$password="<password>"  
$cred=New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $userName, $(convertto-securestring $Password -asplaintext -force)  
Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://<tenant>-admin.sharepoint.com -Credential $cred  
Remove-PnPTenantSite -Url <site collection url>

Reference:
How to remove 2 site collections

Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT 26 Reputation points

2021-08-31T13:06:38.023+00:00

I tried it now but was the same result.

I noticed that when I made a URL name, the old name changed the owner to SHAREPOINT\system. Will this have something to do with?

Its any other way to clear redirect urls?
Elsie Lu_MSFT 9,801 Reputation points

2021-09-01T07:20:04.303+00:00

Hi @Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT ,

Thanks for the reply. Tests in my environment can reproduce the error:

At present, more than one user has said that they have encountered this issue. I would suggest you open a service request to ask Microsoft for more direct help:
Tamesh Chakraborty 6 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-09-01T08:30:31.62+00:00

Hi @Leonardo Garcia | Consultores en IT , first unlock the site and then change the owner of the site using below cmdlets.

Set-SPOSite $site -LockState Unlock
Set-SPOSite $site -Owner "Owner name"

Once done you will be able to delete the site.

Remove-SPOSite -Identity "Site url"

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Error when using Remove-SPOSite command on PowerShell

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