Remove-Item - Powershell 1.0 CmdLet
Microsoft Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting tool based on the Microsoft .NET Framework. It is designed for system administrators, engineers and developers to control and automate the administration of Windows and applications.
More than hundred command-line tools (so called "cmdlets") can be used to perform system administration tasks and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). These cmdlets are easy to use, with standard naming conventions and common parameters, and standard tools for piping, sorting, filtering, and formatting data and objects.
Remove-Item
Description Remove an item Usage Options -path string The path(s) to the items. Wildcards are permitted. Use the wildcard (*) to specify all items in the current location. -literalPath string Like Path above, only the value is used exactly as typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes any escape characters then enclose the path in single quotation marks. -include string Include only the specified items from the Path. e.g. "May*" this only works when the path includes a wildcard character. -exclude string Omit the specified items from the Path e.g. "*SS64*" this only works when the path includes a wildcard character. -filter string A filter in the provider's format or language. The exact syntax of the filter (wildcard support etc) depends on the provider. Filters are more efficient than -include/-exclude, because the provider applies the filter when retrieving the objects, rather than having PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved. -recurse Also delete child items from the specified location. [Does NOT Work properly yet - see example below] -force Override restrictions that prevent the command from succeeding, apart from security settings. e.g. -force will override a files read-only attribute, but will not change file permissions. -credential PSCredential Use a credential to validate access to the file. Credential represents a user-name, such as "User01" or "Domain01\User01", or a PSCredential object, such as the one retrieved by using the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, you will be prompted for a password. This parameter is not supported by any PowerShell core cmdlets or providers. -whatIf Describe what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command. -confirm Prompt for confirmation before executing the command. CommonParameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutVariable. Example(s) Delete filenames that include a dot (.) PS C:\>remove-item C:\Docs\*.* Delete from the current directory (*) all files with a .doc file name extension and a name that does not include "1". PS C:\>remove-item * -include *.doc -exclude *1* Delete a file that is both hidden and read-only.: PS C:\>remove-item -path C:\Docs\hidden-RO-file.txt -force Delete all of the CSV files in the current directory and all subdirectories recursively: PS C:\>get-childitem * -include *.csv -recurse | remove-item Because remove-item -recurse is faulty the above uses get-childitem -recurse instead. Delete the 'demo' registry key and all of its subkeys and values: PS C:\>remove-item hklm:\software\SS64\demo -recurse