Wevtutil Error “The specified channel could not be found” when clearing an Event Log File

If you’re receiving the following error when trying to clear an event log file using the wevtutil.exe CLI tool, then you’re most likely using an incorrect log file name parameter:

Failed to clear log <logfile>. The specified channel could not be found. Check channel configuration.

For example, the event log file name and the display name for “Internet Explorer” are the same, hence the following command would clear the Internet Explorer log:

wevtutil cl "Internet Explorer"

Whereas for some other events such as “Microsoft Office Alerts”, the log file name is different from the display name. To know the file name, right-click on a log and choose Properties.

Note down the Full Name / Log Path.



To clear the Microsoft Office Alerts, you’ll now use this command-line:

wevtutil cl OAlerts

To enumerate and list all the log files, use:

wevtutil el | more

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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