Remove-MailUser
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-MailUser cmdlet to remove existing mail users.
For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.
Syntax
Remove-MailUser
[-Identity] <MailUserIdParameter>
[-Confirm]
[-DomainController <Fqdn>]
[-IgnoreDefaultScope]
[-IgnoreLegalHold]
[-PermanentlyDelete]
[-WhatIf]
[<CommonParameters>] Description
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-MailUser -Identity "Ed Meadows"This example removes the mail user named Ed Meadows.
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, Exchange Online Protection |
-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 |
-Identity
The Identity parameter specifies the mail user that you want to remove. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the mail user. For example:
- Name
- Alias
- Distinguished name (DN)
- Canonical DN
- Email address
- GUID
| Type: | MailUserIdParameter |
| 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, Exchange Online Protection |
-IgnoreDefaultScope
This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
The IgnoreDefaultScope switch tells the command to ignore the default recipient scope setting for the Exchange PowerShell session, and to use the entire forest as the scope. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
This switch enables the command to access Active Directory objects that aren't currently available in the default scope, but also introduces the following restrictions:
- You can't use the DomainController parameter. The command uses an appropriate global catalog server automatically.
- You can only use the DN for the Identity parameter. Other forms of identification, such as alias or GUID, aren't accepted.
| 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 |
-IgnoreLegalHold
This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
The IgnoreLegalHold switch ignores the legal hold status of the user. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
When you disable or remove the user, the user's cloud-based mailbox that's on legal hold is also disabled or removed.
After you disable or remove a mailbox, you can't include it in a discovery search. When you disable a mailbox, the mailbox is disconnected from the user account. Disconnected mailboxes and removed mailboxes are permanently deleted from the mailbox database after the deleted mailbox retention period expires. However, you can also remove a mailbox and purge it immediately from the mailbox database. Check with your organization's legal or Human Resources department before you disable or remove a mailbox that's on legal hold.
| 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 |
-PermanentlyDelete
This parameter is available only in the cloud-based service.
The PermanentlyDelete switch immediately and permanently deletes (purges) the mail user, which prevents you from recovering or restoring the mail user. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
Notes:
- This switch works only on mail users that have already been deleted, but are still recoverable (known as soft-deleted mail-users) that also have a blank value for the ExternalDirectoryObjectId property.
- Use the Get-MailUser cmdlet to identify the soft-deleted mail user, and then pipe the results to the Remove-MailUser cmdlet with this switch. For example,
Get-MailUser -Identity Laura -SoftDeletedMailUser | Remove-MailUser -PermanentlyDelete.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | 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, Exchange Online Protection |
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.