Method for selectively clearing persistent data such as metadata in a storage subsystem. The method includes identifying one or more metadata tracks to clear, receiving a request from a client to clear the identified metadata tracks, passing the request to a storage device driver, and clearing the identified metadata tracks. The metadata tracks to be cleared may be identified by a specific storage function associated with the metadata to be cleared or by a specific storage target associated with metadata. Alternatively, both a storage function and a storage target may be specified. Preferably, the request to clear one or more identified metadata tracks may be executed without affecting unrelated storage functions. In addition, the request may be executed while preserving metadata tracks unrelated to the identified metadata tracks. Thus, execution of a request to selectively clear identified global metadata tracks in accordance with the present invention will typically not cause the loss of configuration information and will not necessitate a reboot of the system. In addition, a request as described above may be executed at any point in time while the storage system is running.