Many users inquire about the process of swiftly deleting Office 365 users from the recycle bin using PowerShell, particularly during an Exchange migration facilitated by the Priasoft Migration Suite for Exchange. When a user is deleted from Office 365, they are moved into a recycle bin, allowing for potential restoration within a predefined timeframe, typically 30 days.
(Please Note: Once an object has been deleted from the recycle bin, restoration is impossible, and the action is permanent. Exercise caution when utilizing this method.)
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To see a list of deleted users currently in the recycle bin you can use the following Powershell command:
Get-MsolUser -ReturnDeletedUsers
You should see an output similar to that shown below:
| UserPrincipalName | DisplayName | isLicensed |
| —————– | —————– | —————– |
| DemoUser5@microsoft.com | Demo User 5 | True |
| DemoUser2@microsoft.com | Demo User 2 | True |
| DemoUser4@microsoft.com | Demo User 4 | True |
If you wish to remove a single item from the recycle bin use can use the Powershell command:
Remove-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName 'UserUPN@Domain.com' -RemoveFromRecycleBin
Subsequently, if you would like to remove all the users in the recycle bin you can use the following Powershell command:
Get-MsolUser -ReturnDeletedUsers | Remove-MsolUser -RemoveFromRecycleBin -Force
(If you would like to be prompted for each delete, you can remove the -Force switch from the command above.)
(Please Note: Once an object has been deleted from the recycle bin, restoration is impossible, and the action is permanent. Exercise caution when utilizing this method.)
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