Remove-Item

Remove-Item [-Confirm] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>] [-Force] [-Include<String[]>] -LiteralPath* <String[]> [-Recurse] [-Stream <String[]>] [-UseTransaction] [-WhatIf][<CommonParameters>]

Remove-Item [-Path*] <String[]> [-Confirm] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>][-Force] [-Include <String[]>] [-Recurse] [-Stream <String[]>] [-UseTransaction] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

Remove-Item [-Stream <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

The Remove-Item cmdlet deletes one or more items. Because it is supported by many providers, it can delete many different types of items, including files, folders, registry keys, variables, aliases, and functions.In file system drives, the Remove-Item cmdlet deletes files and folders.

If you use the Stream dynamic parameter, it deletes the specified alternate data stream, but does not delete the file.

Note: This custom cmdlet help file explains how the Remove-Item cmdlet works in a file system drive. For information about the Remove-Item cmdlet in all drives, type "Get-Help Remove-Item -Path $null" or see Remove-Item at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113373.

Parameters

-Stream <string>

Deletes the specified alternate data stream from a file, but does not delete the file. Enter the stream name. Wildcards are supported. This parameter is not valid on folders.

Stream is a dynamic parameter that the FileSystem provider adds to the Remove-Item cmdlet. This parameter works only in file system drives.

You can use the Remove-Item cmdlet to delete an alternate data stream. However, it is not the recommended way to eliminate security checks that block files that are downloaded from the Internet. If you verify that a downloaded file is safe, use the Unblock-File cmdlet.

This parameter is introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

-Credential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

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, this cmdlet prompts you for a password.

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

-Exclude <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies items that this cmdlet omits. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as *.txt. Wildcard characters are permitted.

-Filter <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

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

-Force [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Forces the cmdlet to remove items that cannot otherwise be changed, such as hidden or read-only files or read-only aliases or variables. The cmdlet cannot remove constant aliases or variables. Implementation varies from provider to provider.

-Include <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies items to delete. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as *.txt. Wildcard characters are permitted.

-LiteralPath <String[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies a path of the items being removed. Unlike Path , the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcard characters. 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.

-Path <String[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies a path of the items being removed. Wildcard characters are permitted.

-Recurse [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that this cmdlet deletes the items in the specified locations and in all child items of the locations.

When it is used with the Include parameter, the Recurse parameter might not delete all subfolders or all child items. This is a known issue. As a workaround, try piping results of the `Get-ChildItem -Recurse` command to Remove-Item , as described in Example 4 in this topic.

-UseTransaction [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when a transaction is in progress.

-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Examples

This example shows how to use the Stream dynamic parameter of the Remove-Item cmdlet to delete an alternate data stream:

C:\PS> Get-Item C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1 -Stream Zone.Identifier

      FileName: \\C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1
   Stream                   Length
   ------                   ------
   Zone.Identifier              26

C:\PS> Remove-Item C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1 -Stream Zone.Identifier


C:\PS> Get-Item C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1 -Stream Zone.Identifier

   get-item : Could not open alternate data stream 'Zone.Identifier' of file 'C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1'.
   At line:1 char:1
   + get-item 'C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1' -Stream Zone.Identifier
   + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1:String) [Get-Item], FileNotFoundE
      xception
       + FullyQualifiedErrorId : AlternateDataStreamNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand

C:\PS> Get-Item C:\Test\Copy-Script.ps1

       Directory: C:\Test
   Mode                LastWriteTime     Length Name
   ----                -------------     ------ ----
   -a---          8/4/2011  11:15 AM       9436 Copy-Script.ps1

The stream parameter is introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

The first command uses the Stream dynamic parameter of the Get-Item cmdlet to get the Zone.Identifier stream of the Copy-Script.ps1 file.

The second command uses the Stream dynamic parameter of the Remove-Item cmdlet to remove the Zone.Identifier stream of the file.

The third command uses the Stream dynamic parameter of the Get-Item cmdlet to verify that the Zone.Identifier stream is deleted.

The fourth command Get-Item cmdlet without the Stream parameter to verify that the file is not deleted.

This command deletes all of the files with names that include a dot (.) from the C:\Test directory:
```
C:\PS> Remove-Item C:\Test\*.*
```
Because the command specifies a dot, the command does not delete directories or files with no file name extension.
This command deletes from the current directory all files with a .doc file name extension and a name that does not include "1":
```
C:\PS> Remove-Item * -Include *.doc -Exclude *1*
```
It uses the wildcard character (*) to specify the contents of the current directory. It uses the Include and Exclude parameters to specify the files to delete.
This command deletes a file that is both hidden and read-only:
```
C:\PS> Remove-Item -Path C:\Test\hidden-RO-file.txt -Force
```
It uses the Path parameter to specify the file. It uses the Force parameter to give permission to delete it. Without Force, you cannot delete read-only or hidden files.
This command deletes all of the CSV files in the current directory and all subdirectories recursively:
```
C:\PS> Get-ChildItem * -Include *.csv -Recurse | Remove-Item
```
Because the Recurse parameter in this cmdlet is faulty, the command uses the Get-Childitem cmdlet to get the desired files, and it uses the pipeline operator to pass them to the Remove-Item cmdlet.

In the Get-ChildItem command, the Path parameter has a value of *, which represents the contents of the current directory. It uses the Include parameter to specify the CSV file type, and it uses the Recurse parameter to make the retrieval recursive.

If you try to specify the file type in the path, such as "-path *.csv", the cmdlet interprets the subject of the search to be a file that has no child items, and Recurse fails.

Additional Notes

 You can also refer to Remove-Item by any of its built-in aliases: del , erase , rmdir , rd , ri , or rm *. For 
 more information, see about_Aliases.  Remove-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.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands