How to delete orphaned Databases out of SharePoint 2016

I ran into an issue where some databases that were deleted out of SQL were still showing up in SharePoint. You can find them in http://[Central Admin URL]/_admin/DatabaseStatus.aspx.

These were causing errors in the SQL logs because SharePoint was trying to open databases that didn't exist

To delete these orphaned databases, I ran two commands.


List the orphaned databases:
Get-SPDatabase | Where{$_.Exists -eq $false}

Delete the orphaned databases:
Get-SPDatabase | Where{$_.Exists -eq $false} | ForEach{$_.Delete()}

When I was done, I ran the list orphaned databases powershell command again to ensure that the databases were deleted.

When I refreshed the Database Upgrade status window in Central Admin, the databases were gone.

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About Tom DeMeulenaere

Highly accomplished information technology professional with extensive knowledge in System Center Configuration Manager, Windows Server, SharePoint, and Office 365.