How to Remove a Computer from a Domain Using PowerShell

To remove a computer from a domain with PowerShell, run Remove-Computer as administrator, name the workgroup to join and restart:

Remove-Computer -WorkgroupName 'WORKGROUP' -UnjoinDomainCredential (Get-Credential) -Restart

The credential needs rights to remove the computer account. Below I check the join state, preview the command, remove remote PCs and clean up AD. My test PC isn’t on a domain, so I used -WhatIf.

Check if the computer is on a domain

Win32_ComputerSystem tells you whether the PC is joined and what role it plays:

$cs = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystem
$roles = @{ 0 = 'Standalone workstation'; 1 = 'Member workstation'; 2 = 'Standalone server'
            3 = 'Member server'; 4 = 'Backup domain controller'; 5 = 'Primary domain controller' }

"Part of a domain: $($cs.PartOfDomain)"
"Domain or group:  $($cs.Domain)"
"Role:             $($roles[[int]$cs.DomainRole])"

Output:

Part of a domain: False
Domain or group:  WORKGROUP
Role:             Standalone workstation

On a joined PC, PartOfDomain is True and Domain shows the domain name, such as corp.contoso.com. Getting the computer name covers the related properties.

Preview the removal with -WhatIf

Remove-Computer supports -WhatIf, so you can confirm the target before anything changes:

Remove-Computer -WorkgroupName 'WORKGROUP' -WhatIf

Output:

What if: Performing the operation "Remove-Computer" on target "DESKTOP-4T7K2QX".

Remove -WhatIf and add -Restart when you’re ready. The change only takes effect after the restart. See the Remove-Computer reference.

PowerShell 7

Remove-Computer is a Windows PowerShell 5.1 cmdlet. PowerShell 7 still runs it by loading the module through Windows PowerShell compatibility:

It works, but I’d run domain changes in Windows PowerShell 5.1 to keep things simple. Microsoft explains the compatibility feature in about_Windows_PowerShell_Compatibility.

Remove a remote computer from the domain

Use -ComputerName with a domain admin credential. -Force skips the confirmation prompt:

$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Domain admin'
Remove-Computer -ComputerName PC-SALES-07, PC-SALES-08 -UnjoinDomainCredential $cred `
    -WorkgroupName 'WORKGROUP' -Restart -Force

The remote PCs must allow WMI connections from your computer. Make sure you know a local admin password on each one first, because domain accounts stop working after the restart.

Delete the computer account in Active Directory

Remove-Computer disables the computer object in AD, but it doesn’t delete it. Clean it up with the ActiveDirectory module:

Remove-ADComputer -Identity 'PC-SALES-07' -Confirm:$false

See the Remove-ADComputer reference. To join the PC again later, follow adding a computer to a domain.

Microsoft Entra ID joined PCs

Remove-Computer only handles on-premises Active Directory. For a PC joined to Microsoft Entra ID, run dsregcmd /leave as administrator, or disconnect it in Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.

Frequently Asked Questions

For other computer management tasks, see:

• Add a computer to a domain
• Rename a Windows computer
• Get the computer name
• Restart a computer