Applies to: Exchange Server 2013

Topic Last Modified: 2013-01-11

Use the Remove-RetentionPolicy cmdlet to remove a retention policy.

For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Syntax.

Syntax


`Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity <MailboxPolicyIdParameter> [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [-DomainController <Fqdn>] [-Force <SwitchParameter>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]]`

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

This example removes the retention policy Business Critical.

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Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical"

EXAMPLE 2

This example removes the retention policy Business Critical and suppresses the confirmation prompt.

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Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical" -Confirm:$false

EXAMPLE 3

This example removes the retention policy Business Critical, which is assigned to users, and suppresses the confirmation prompt.

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Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical" -Confirm:$false -Force

Detailed 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.

Caution:
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.

Caution:

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 all parameters for this cmdlet are listed in this topic, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To see what permissions you need, see the "Messaging records management" entry in the Messaging Policy and Compliance Permissions topic.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
Identity	Required	Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.MailboxPolicyIdParameter	The Identity parameter specifies the retention policy name.
Confirm	Optional	System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter	The Confirm switch can be used to suppress the confirmation prompt that appears by default when this cmdlet is run. To suppress the confirmation prompt, use the syntax `-Confirm:$False`. You must include a colon ( `:` ) in the syntax.
DomainController	Optional	Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Fqdn	The DomainController parameter specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the domain controller that writes this configuration change to Active Directory.
Force	Optional	System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter	The Force switch specifies whether to override the confirmation prompt that appears when removing 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. You don't have to specify a value with the Force switch.
WhatIf	Optional	System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter	The WhatIf switch instructs the command to simulate the actions that it would take on the object. By using the WhatIf switch, you can view what changes would occur without having to apply any of those changes. You don't have to specify a value with the WhatIf switch.

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.

Return 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.