This script allows you to deprovision and delete a list of users.
It performs the following steps:
- Transfers the user content to the another user’s root folder, specified in the
EmployeeArchiveFolderName parameter.
- Deletes the user.
Prerequisites
Windows
Install the latest version of .NET core.
macOS & Linux
Install PowerShell. Run the pwsh command to test the installation.
Depending on the directory you are
running the command in, the output may differ.
For example:
PowerShell 7.2.5
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
https://aka.ms/powershell
Type 'help' to get help.
PS /Users/user/repos/boxcli/examples>
Box CLI
To use the script, you need the Box CLI
installed and configured. You can do this by following
our . The user you use to login with should
be the main Box admin or co-admin.
-
Clone the
boxcli GitHub repository and cd into this example’s folder or download the files from examples directory.
git clone https://github.com/box/boxcli.git boxcli
cd boxcli/examples/User\ Deprovisioning/
-
Create the list of employees for deletion in
.csv.
The header row should look like as follows:
where:
name is the name of the user in Box.email is the primary email address of the user in Box.
For example:
name | email |
|---|
| Managed User 1 | ManagedUser1@test.com |
| Managed User 2 | ManagedUser2@test.com |
| Managed User 3 | ManagedUser3@test.com |
List of parameters
Parameter | Description | Required | Default Value |
|---|
EmployeeList | Path to Employee List CSV with employees to be deleted. | Yes | - |
SkipTransferContent | Set this flag to skip transfer of user content before deletion when running the script. Otherwise user’s content will be transferred. | No | False |
NewFilesOwnerID | The ID of the user to transfer files to before deleting the user. If not specified, the script will prompt to input in the interactive mode, or use the current authenticated user ID to receive the content. | No | If not specified, the script will prompt to input in the interactive mode, or use the current authenticated user ID. |
EmployeeArchiveFolderName | The name of a folder, where users’ content will be moved to if SkipTransferContent is set to False. If a folder with this name already exists in the user’s NewFilesOwnerID root folder, it will be used. Otherwise, a new one will be created. | Yes | Employee Archive |
DryRun | A flag that determines the script should be run in a mode, where no delete/create/update calls will be made, only read ones. | No | False |
Define script parameters
You can the following options to pass parameters.
-
Use hardcoded value in script.
To use this option, update all required parameters listed in the script parameters section before running.
-
Run script with parameters.
You can specify parameters while providing the command. For example:
PS > ./Users_Deprovision.ps1 -EmployeeList ./Employees_to_delete.csv `
-NewFilesOwnerID 123456789
-EmployeeArchiveFolderName "Employee Archive"
PS > ./Users_Deprovision.ps1 -EmployeeList ./Employees_to_delete.csv `
-SkipTransferContent
PS > ./Users_Deprovision.ps1
Please enter the path to the employee list CSV file:
./Employees_to_delete.csv
Please specify the user ID of the user who will own the files of the users being deprovisioned.
Press Enter if you want to use the current user as the new owner.
User ID: 1234567689
Starting User Deprovisioning script...
Run the script
Now all you need to do is run the script.
-
Run the Powershell command.
-
Run the script:
When all parameters are defined, you will see following output to confirm the script started:
PS /home/rvb/box-cli/examples/User Deprovisioning> ./Users_Deprovision.ps1
Starting User Deprovisioning script...
Logging
Logs are stored in a logs folder located in the main folder.
You have access to these log files:
Users_Deprovision_all.txt that contains all log entriesUsers_Deprovision_errors.txt that contains only errors.
Last modified on March 19, 2026
