Clear-Item

Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0

Deletes the contents of an item, but does not delete the item.

Syntax

Clear-Item [-LiteralPath] <string[]> [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-Filter <string>] [-Force] [-Include <string[]>] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Clear-Item [-Path] <string[]> [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-Filter <string>] [-Force] [-Include <string[]>] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Clear-Item cmdlet deletes the value of an item, but it does not delete the item. For example, Clear-Item can delete the value of a variable, but it does not delete the variable. The value that used to represent a cleared item is defined by each Windows PowerShell provider. Clear-Item is similar to Clear-Content, but it works on aliases and variables, instead of files.

Parameters

-Credential <PSCredential>

Specifies a user account that has permission to perform this action. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as "User01" or "Domain01\User01", or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, you will be prompted for a password.

This parameter is not supported by any providers installed with Windows PowerShell.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Exclude <string[]>

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Filter <string>

Specifies a filter in the provider's format or language. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. The syntax of the filter, including the use of wildcards, depends on the provider. Filters are more efficient than other parameters, because the provider applies them when retrieving the objects, rather than having Windows PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Force

Allows the cmdlet to clear items that cannot otherwise be changed, such as read- only aliases. The cmdlet cannot clear constants. Implementation varies from provider to provider. For more information, see about_Providers. Even using the Force parameter, the cmdlet cannot override security restrictions.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Include <string[]>

Clears only the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-LiteralPath <string[]>

Specifies the path to the items being cleared. Unlike Path, the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell Windows PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Path <string[]>

Specifies the path to the items being cleared. Wildcards are permitted. This parameter is required, but the parameter name ("Path") is optional.

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByValue, ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-WhatIf

Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-UseTransaction

Includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when a transaction is in progress. For more information, see about_Transactions.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value	none
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

<CommonParameters>

This command supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, WarningAction, and WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

Inputs and Outputs

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.

Inputs	System.String You can pipe a path string to Clear-Item.
Outputs	None This cmdlet does not return any objects.

Notes

The Clear-Item cmdlet is supported only by several Windows PowerShell providers, including the Alias, Environment, Function, Registry, and Variable providers. As such, you can use Clear-Item to delete the content of items in the provider namespaces.

You cannot use Clear-Item to delete the contents of a file, because the Windows PowerShell FileSystem Provider does not support this cmdlet. To clear files, use Clear-Content.

You can also refer to Clear-Item by its built-in alias, "cli". For more information, type "Get-Helpabout_Aliases".

The Clear-Item cmdlet is designed to work with the data exposed by any provider. To list the providers available in your session, type "Get-PsProvider". For more information, see about_Providers.

Example 1

C:\PS>clear-item Variable:TestVar1

Description

-----------

This command deletes the value of the variable, Testvar1. The variable remains and is valid, but its value is set to null.

The variable name is prefixed with "Variable:" to indicate the Windows PowerShell Variable provider. To get the same result, you can switch to the Windows PowerShell Variable provider namespace first and then perform the Clear-Item command.

PS C:> Set-location Variable:

PS Variable:\> clear-item Testvar1

Example 2

C:\PS>clear-item Alias:log* -include *1* -exclude *3* -whatif

What if: Performing operation "Clear Item" on Target "Item: log1".

Description

-----------

This command asks Windows PowerShell what would happen if you executed the command, "clear-item alias:log* -include *1* -exclude *3". In response, Windows PowerShell explains that it would delete the value of the log1 alias.

This command would not have any effect on the log, log2, or log13 aliases. Because the Alias provider does not permit an alias without a value, when you clear an alias, you also delete the alias.

Example 3

C:\PS>clear-item registry::HKLM\Software\MyCompany\MyKey -confirm

Description

-----------

This command deletes all registry entries in the MyKey subkey, but only after prompting you to confirm your intent. It does not delete the MyKey subkey or affect any other registry keys or entries. You can use the Include and Exclude parameters to identify particular registry keys, but you cannot use them to identify registry entries. To delete particular registry entries, use Remove-ItemProperty. To delete the value of a registry entry, use Clear-ItemProperty.

See Also

Concepts

about_Providers
Copy-Item
Get-Item
Invoke-Item
Move-Item
Set-Item
New-Item
Remove-Item
Rename-Item