Clear-ItemProperty

Article
04/20/2010

Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0

Deletes the value of a property but does not delete the property.

Syntax

Clear-ItemProperty [-LiteralPath] <string[]> [-Name] <string> [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-Filter <string>] [-Force] [-Include <string[]>] [-PassThru] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Clear-ItemProperty [-Path] <string[]> [-Name] <string> [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-Filter <string>] [-Force] [-Include <string[]>] [-PassThru] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Clear-ItemProperty cmdlet deletes the value of a property, but it does not delete the property. You can use this cmdlet to delete the data from a registry value.

Parameters

-Credential <PSCredential>

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, you will be prompted for a password.

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

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Exclude <string[]>

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt" or "s*". Wildcards are permitted.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Filter <string>

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

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Force

Allows the cmdlet to delete properties from items that cannot otherwise be accessed by the user. Implementation varies from provider to provider. For more information, see about_Providers.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Include <string[]>

Clears only the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-LiteralPath <string[]>

Specifies the path to the property being cleared. Unlike Path, the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. 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.

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Name <string>

Specifies the name of the property to be cleared, such as the name of a registry value. Wildcards are not permitted.

Required?	true
Position?	2
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-PassThru

Returns an object representing the cleared item's property. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Path <string[]>

Specifies the path to the property being cleared. Wildcards are permitted.

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	true (ByValue, ByPropertyName)
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-WhatIf

Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

-UseTransaction

Includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when a transaction is in progress. For more information, see about_Transactions.

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default Value
Accept Pipeline Input?	false
Accept Wildcard Characters?	false

<CommonParameters>

This command supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, WarningAction, and WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

Inputs and Outputs

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.

Inputs

System.String

You can pipe a path string to Clear-ItemProperty.

Outputs

None or System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject

When you use the PassThru parameter, Clear-ItemProperty generates a PSCustomObject object that represents the cleared item property. Otherwise, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Notes

You can use Clear-ItemProperty to delete the data in registry values without deleting the value. If the data type of the value is Binary or DWORD, clearing the data sets the value to zero. Otherwise, the value is empty.

You can also refer to Clear-ItemProperty by its built-in alias, "clp". For more information, see about_Aliases.

The Clear-ItemProperty 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.

Example 1

C:\PS>clear-itemproperty -path HKLM:\Software\MyCompany\MyApp -name Options

Description
-----------
This command deletes the data in the Options registry value in the MyApp subkey of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\MyCompany.

Because the command is being issued from a file system drive (C:), it uses the fully qualified path to the HKLM: drive and the Software\MyCompany\MyApp subkey. It uses the Name parameter to specify the Options value.

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