Removing a site collection feature

Question

I am trying to remove a SharePoint feature that was deployed on a site collection level. Even after disabling it and removing the solution, it's still there. I deleted the folder from the TEMPLATES folder, but I prefer properly removing it.

I tried using Management Shell but the commands "cannot find a Feature object with Path or Id...", even if I copy and paste the folder name, the name in the xml file, etc.

Why is this so difficult to get rid of? Or should I not worry about it?

Answer 1

Proper way to remove the feature is

• Restract from the Site collections /Sites. i,e powershell Disable-SPFeature
• Uninstall it i.e powershell UUninstall-SPSolution
• Remove it. i.e powershell Remove-SPSolution

Now as it become orphan, you can remove either way

• use this SharePoint Feature Administration and Clean Up Tool to identify and remove them
• You can use the powershell to get this done. http://get-spscripts.com/2011/08/diagnose-missingwebpart-and.html

Answer 2

Ah, I found it! Turns out the solution was still in the gallery (despite the fact that I uninstalled and removed it). So I had to manually deactivate and delete it to remove the feature.