Commands › Exchange Online

Remove-HoldComplianceRule

Exchange Online ExchangeOnlineManagement Remove-*

For more information, see Security & Compliance PowerShell. Use the Remove-HoldComplianceRule cmdlet to remove preservation rules from the Microsoft Purview compliance portal. **Note**: The Remove-HoldComplianceRule cmdlet is replaced by the Remove-RetentionComplianceRule cmdlet. If you have scripts that use Remove-HoldComplianceRule, update them to use Remove-RetentionComplianceRule.

Quick start script

# Remove-HoldComplianceRule — quick start (serv365.ai)
# 1. Connect (app-only shown; interactive: omit the certificate parameters)
Connect-ExchangeOnline -CertificateThumbprint $thumb -AppId $appId -Organization $org

# 2. Capture the current state first — you cannot roll back what you never recorded
$before = Get-HoldComplianceRule
$before | Format-List

# 3. Make the change (dry run first)
Remove-HoldComplianceRule -Identity <PolicyIdParameter> -WhatIf
Remove-HoldComplianceRule -Identity <PolicyIdParameter>

# 4. Verify and diff
$after = Get-HoldComplianceRule
Compare-Object ($before | Out-String) ($after | Out-String)

Syntax

Remove-HoldComplianceRule [-Identity] <PolicyIdParameter>
 [-Confirm]
 [-ForceDeletion]
 [-WhatIf]
 [<CommonParameters>]

Parameters (4)

Parameter	Type	Required	What it controls
-Identity	PolicyIdParameter	yes	The Identity parameter specifies the preservation rule to remove. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the rule. For example:
-Confirm	SwitchParameter		The Confirm switch specifies whether to show or hide the confirmation prompt. How this switch affects the cmdlet depends on whether the cmdlet requires confirmation before proceeding.
-ForceDeletion	SwitchParameter		The ForceDeletion switch forces the removal of the rule. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-WhatIf	SwitchParameter		The WhatIf switch doesn't work in Security & Compliance PowerShell.

Reference facts derived from Microsoft documentation, © Microsoft, licensed CC BY 4.0; restructured with original guidance by serv365.ai.