Delete Files in Directory

Author: Brody Kilpatrick | Created: June 11, 2019

The normal command line is still great to use for deletions, and can be quicker than powershell

Here is a very simple one-liner:

del /q C:\windows\temp\*.log

del - This is the command. Powershell has a command called “Remove-Item” but del seems faster. If you run del in a powershell window, it will actually run “Remove-Item”, so make sure you are in a CMD window.

/q - Quiet, don’t confirm deletions

C:\windows\temp\*.log - Any .log file in this directory. It is not recursive, but there is a recursive option which is /s.

The below information is from: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/del

Deletes one or more files. This command is the same as the erase command.

For examples of how to use this command, see Examples.

Syntax

Copy

del [/p] [/f] [/s] [/q] [/a[:]<Attributes>] <Names>
erase [/p] [/f] [/s] [/q] [/a[:]<Attributes>] <Names>

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<Names>	Specifies a list of one or more files or directories. Wildcards may be used to delete multiple files. If a directory is specified, all files within the directory will be deleted.
/p	Prompts for confirmation before deleting the specified file.
/f	Forces deletion of read-only files.
/s	Deletes specified files from the current directory and all subdirectories. Displays the names of the files as they are being deleted.
/q	Specifies quiet mode. You are not prompted for delete confirmation.
/a[:]<Attributes>	Deletes files based on the following file attributes: r Read-only files h Hidden files i Not content indexed files s System files a Files ready for archiving l Reparse points - Prefix meaning ‘not’
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

Caution

If you use del to delete a file from your disk, you cannot retrieve it.

If you use /p, del displays the name of a file and sends the following message:

Copy

`FileName, Delete (Y/N)?`

To confirm the deletion, press Y. To cancel the deletion and display the next file name (that is, if you specified a group of files), press N. To stop the **del** command, press CTRL+C.

If you disable command extensions, /s displays the names of any files that were not found instead of displaying the names of files that are being deleted (that is, the behavior is reversed).
If you specify a folder in Names, all of the files in the folder are deleted. For example, the following command deletes all of the files in the \Work folder:Copydel \work
You can use wildcards (* and ?) to delete more than one file at a time. However, to avoid deleting files unintentionally, you should use wildcards cautiously with the del command. For example, if you type the following command:Copydel *.*The del command displays the following prompt:Are you sure (Y/N)?To delete all of the files in the current directory, press Y and then press ENTER. To cancel the deletion, press N and then press ENTER.

Note

Before you use wildcard characters with the del command, use the same wildcard characters with the dir command to list all the files that will be deleted.

The del command, with different parameters, is available from the Recovery Console.

Examples

To delete all the files in a folder named Test on drive C, type either of the following:Copy

del c:\test
del c:\test\*.*

To delete all files with the .bat file name extension from the current directory, type:Copy

del *.bat

To delete all read-only files in the current directory, type:Copy

del /a:r *.*