Clear-MobileDevice

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 Clear-MobileDevice cmdlet to delete all data from a mobile phone. This action is often called a remote device wipe.

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

Syntax

Clear-MobileDevice
     [-Identity] <MobileDeviceIdParameter>
     [-AccountOnly]
     [-Cancel]
     [-Confirm]
     [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
     [-NotificationEmailAddresses <MultiValuedProperty>]
     [-WhatIf]
     [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Clear-MobileDevice cmdlet deletes all user data from a mobile device the next time that the device receives data from the Microsoft Exchange server. This cmdlet sets the DeviceWipeStatus parameter to $true. The mobile device acknowledges the cmdlet and records the time stamp in the DeviceWipeAckTime parameter.

After you run this cmdlet, you receive a warning that states: "This command will force all the data on the device to be permanently deleted. Do you want to continue?" You must respond to the warning for the cmdlet to run on the mobile phone.

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

Clear-MobileDevice -Identity TonySmith\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\REST§Outlook§5eec4e941e0748a264512fd83770d5ac

This example clears all data from the specified mobile device.

Example 2

Clear-MobileDevice -Identity TonySmith\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\REST§Outlook§5eec4e941e0748a264512fd83770d5ac -NotificationEmailAddresses "chris@contoso.com"

This example clears all data from the specified mobile device and sends a confirmation email message to chris@contoso.com.

Example 3

Clear-MobileDevice -Identity TonySmith\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\REST§Outlook§5eec4e941e0748a264512fd83770d5ac -Cancel

This example cancels a previously sent Clear-MobileDevice command request for the specified mobile device.

Parameters

-AccountOnly

The AccountOnly switch specifies whether to perform an account-only remote device wipe where only Exchange mailbox data is removed from the device. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

You don't need to use this switch for the DeviceType value Outlook, because an account-only remote device wipe is the only type of wipe that's used on Outlook devices.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-Cancel

The Cancel switch specifies whether to issue a cancellation request for a pending remote device wipe. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-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.

This cmdlet has a built-in pause, so use -Confirm:$false to skip the confirmation.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:cf
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-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 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-Identity

The Identity parameter specifies the mobile device that you want to reset. You can use the following values that uniquely identifies the mobile device:

  • Identity (<Mailbox Name>\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\<MobileDeviceObjectName> for example, CarlosM\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\REST§Outlook§5eec4e941e0748a264512fd83770d5ac)
  • Distinguished name (DN)
  • GUID (same as ExchangeObjectId)
Type:MobileDeviceIdParameter
Position:1
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

-NotificationEmailAddresses

The NotificationEmailAddresses parameter specifies the notification email address for the remote device wipe confirmation. You can specify multiple values separated by commas.

Type:MultiValuedProperty
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, 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 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online

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.