Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Topic Last Modified: 2012-07-23

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console (EMC) or the Exchange Management Shell to remove an address list. You can't remove the default global address list (GAL).

Looking for other management tasks related to address lists? Check out Managing Address Lists.

Use the EMC to remove an address list

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Address lists" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

  1. In the console tree, navigate to Organization Configuration > Mailbox.

  2. In the result pane, on the Address Lists tab, click the address list that you want to remove.

  3. In the action pane, click Remove. A warning appears, asking if you are sure that you want to remove the address list. Click Yes to remove the address list.

  4. You can track the progress in the status bar on the bottom of the EMC. When the process is complete, the address list will be removed from the result pane.

Note:
You can't remove a parent address list that contains child address lists. However, you can remove both the child and parent address lists by pressing the CTRL key on the keyboard, and then selecting the parent and child address lists. If you attempt to remove a parent address list without removing the child address lists, you'll receive an error.

Use the Shell to remove an address list

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Address lists" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

To remove an address list, use the following syntax.

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Remove-AddressList -Identity <AddressListIDParameter>

This example removes the address list Sales Department, which doesn't contain child address lists.

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Remove-AddressList -Identity "Sales Department"

Type Y to confirm that you want to remove this address list, and then press ENTER.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Remove-AddressList.

Use the Shell to remove an address list that contains child address lists

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Address lists" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

Note:
You can't use the EMC to remove an address list that contains child address lists.

To remove an address list that contains child address lists, use the following syntax.

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Remove-AddressList -Identity <AddressListIDParameter> -Recursive

This example removes the parent address list Departments and all of its child address lists.

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Remove-AddressList -Identity Departments -Recursive

Type Y to confirm that you want to remove the parent address list and its child address lists, and then press ENTER.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Remove-AddressList.