This is the built-in help made by Microsoft for the command 'Remove-Item', in PowerShell version 4 - as retrieved from
Windows version 'Microsoft Windows 8.1 Enterprise' PowerShell help files on 2016-06-23.
For PowerShell version 3 and up, where you have Update-Help, this command was run just before creating the web pages from the help files.
Deletes files and folders.
Remove-Item [-Path] <String[]> [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>] [-Force] [-Include <String[]>] [-Recurse] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-
UseTransaction [<SwitchParameter>]] [<CommonParameters>]
Remove-Item [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>] [-Force] [-Include <String[]>] [-Recurse] -LiteralPath <String[]> [-Confirm] [-WhatI
f] [-UseTransaction [<SwitchParameter>]] [<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, directories
, 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.
<
Online version: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/jj628241(v=wps.630).aspx
Remove-Item
(generic); http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113373
FileSystem Provider
Clear-Content
Get-Content
Get-ChildItem
Get-Content
Get-Item
Remove-Item
Set-Content
Test-Path
<
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------
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
Description
-----------
This example shows how to use the Stream dynamic parameter of the Remove-Item cmdlet to delete an alternate data stream. 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.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
C:\PS>Remove-Item C:\Test\*.*
Description
-----------
This command deletes all of the files with names that include a dot (.) from the C:\Test directory. Because the command specifies a dot, the command does not delete d
irectories or files with no file name extension.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------
C:\PS>Remove-Item * -Include *.doc -Exclude *1*
Description
-----------
This command deletes from the current directory all files with a .doc file name extension and a name that does not include "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.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------
C:\PS>Remove-Item -Path C:\Test\hidden-RO-file.txt -Force
Description
-----------
This command deletes a file that is both hidden and read-only. It uses the Path parameter to specify the file. It uses the Force parameter to give permission to delet
e it. Without Force, you cannot delete read-only or hidden files.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------
C:\PS>Get-ChildItem * -Include *.csv -Recurse | Remove-Item
Description
-----------
This command deletes all of the CSV files in the current directory and all subdirectories recursively.
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 th
e 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 Recu
rse fails.