Remove-RetentionPolicy

Reference

Module:: ExchangePowerShell

Applies to:: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

This cmdlet is available in on-premises Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings may 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

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 may never expire. This may 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. Note that 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 topic lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not 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

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.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	cf
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-DomainController

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.

Type:	Fqdn
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-Force

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.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-Identity

The Identity parameter specifies the retention policy name.

Type:	MailboxPolicyIdParameter
Position:	1
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-WhatIf

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.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	wi
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

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.

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