How to recursively delete an entire directory with PowerShell 2.0?

Question

What is the simplest way to forcefully delete a directory and all its subdirectories in PowerShell? I am using PowerShell V2 in Windows 7.

I have learned from several sources that the most obvious command, Remove-Item $targetDir -Recurse -Force, does not work correctly. This includes a statement in the PowerShell V2 online help (found using Get-Help Remove-Item -Examples) that states:

...Because the Recurse parameter in this cmdlet is faulty, the command uses the Get-Childitem cmdlet to get the desired files, and it uses the pipeline operator to pass them to the Remove-Item cmdlet...

I have seen various examples that use Get-ChildItem and pipe it to Remove-Item, but the examples usually remove some set of files based on a filter, not the entire directory.

I am looking for the cleanest way to blow out an entire directory, files and child directories, without generating any user warning messages using the least amount of code. A one-liner would be nice if it is easy to understand.

Answer 1

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force some_dir

does indeed work as advertised here.

rm -r -fo some_dir

are shorthand aliases that work too.

As far as I understood it, the -Recurse parameter just doesn't work correctly when you try deleting a filtered set of files recursively. For killing a single dir and everything below it seems to work fine.

Answer 2

I used:

rm -r folderToDelete

This works for me like a charm (I stole it from Ubuntu).

Answer 3

When deleting files recursively using a simple Remove-Item "folder" -Recurse I sometimes see an intermittent error : [folder] cannot be removed because it is not empty.

This answer attempts to prevent that error by individually deleting the files.

function Get-Tree($Path,$Include='*') { 
    @(Get-Item $Path -Include $Include -Force) + 
        (Get-ChildItem $Path -Recurse -Include $Include -Force) | 
        sort pspath -Descending -unique
} 

function Remove-Tree($Path,$Include='*') { 
    Get-Tree $Path $Include | Remove-Item -force -recurse
} 

Remove-Tree some_dir

An important detail is the sorting of all the items with pspath -Descending so that the leaves are deleted before the roots. The sorting is done on the pspath parameter since that has more chance of working for providers other than the file system. The -Include parameter is just a convenience if you want to filter the items to delete.

It's split into two functions since I find it useful to see what I'm about to delete by running

Get-Tree some_dir | select fullname

Answer 4

rm -r ./folder -Force    

...worked for me

Answer 5

Try this example. If the directory does not exist, no error is raised. You may need PowerShell v3.0.

remove-item -path "c:\Test Temp\Test Folder" -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Answer 6

Use the old-school DOS command:

rd /s <dir>

Answer 7

For some reason John Rees' answer sometimes did not work in my case. But it led me in the following direction. First I try to delete the directory recursively with the buggy -recurse option. Afterwards I descend into every subdir that's left and delete all files.

function Remove-Tree($Path)
{ 
    Remove-Item $Path -force -Recurse -ErrorAction silentlycontinue

    if (Test-Path "$Path\" -ErrorAction silentlycontinue)
    {
        $folders = Get-ChildItem -Path $Path –Directory -Force
        ForEach ($folder in $folders)
        {
            Remove-Tree $folder.FullName
        }

        $files = Get-ChildItem -Path $Path -File -Force

        ForEach ($file in $files)
        {
            Remove-Item $file.FullName -force
        }

        if (Test-Path "$Path\" -ErrorAction silentlycontinue)
        {
            Remove-Item $Path -force
        }
    }
}

Answer 8

To avoid the "The directory is not empty" errors of the accepted answer, simply use the good old DOS command as suggested before. The full PS syntax ready for copy-pasting is:

& cmd.exe /c rd /S /Q $folderToDelete

Answer 9

del <dir> -Recurse -Force # I prefer this, short & sweet

OR

remove-item <dir> -Recurse -Force

If you have a huge directory then what I usually do is

while (dir | where name -match <dir>) {write-host deleting; sleep -s 3}

Run this on another powershell terminal and it will stop when it is done.

Answer 10

Deleting an entire folder tree sometimes works and sometimes fails with "Directory not empty" errors. Subsequently attempting to check if the folder still exists can result in "Access Denied" or "Unauthorized Access" errors. I do not know why this happens, though some insight may be gained from this StackOverflow posting.

I have been able to get around these issues by specifying the order in which items within the folder are deleted, and by adding delays. The following runs well for me:

# First remove any files in the folder tree
Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force | Where-Object { -not ($_.psiscontainer) } | Remove-Item –Force

# Then remove any sub-folders (deepest ones first).    The -Recurse switch may be needed despite the deepest items being deleted first.
ForEach ($Subfolder in Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force | Select-Object FullName, @{Name="Depth";Expression={($_.FullName -split "\\").Count}} | Sort-Object -Property @{Expression="Depth";Descending=$true}) { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $Subfolder.FullName -Recurse -Force }

# Then remove the folder itself.  The -Recurse switch is sometimes needed despite the previous statements.
Remove-Item -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force

# Finally, give Windows some time to finish deleting the folder (try not to hurl)
Start-Sleep -Seconds 4

A Microsoft TechNet article Using Calculated Properties in PowerShell was helpful to me in getting a list of sub-folders sorted by depth.

Similar reliability issues with RD /S /Q can be solved by running DEL /F /S /Q prior to RD /S /Q and running the RD a second time if necessary - ideally with a pause in between (i.e. using ping as shown below).

DEL /F /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete\*.*" > nul
RD /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete" > nul
if exist "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete"  ping -4 -n 4 127.0.0.1 > nul
if exist "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete"  RD /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete" > nul

Answer 11

Another useful trick:

If you find a lot of files with same or similar name convention (like mac file with dot prefix name... that famous file pulltion), you can easily remove them with one single line from the powershell like this:

ls -r .* | rm

This line is going to remove all files with a dot in the begining of the name inside the current directory, and all files with same circumstances inside other folders inside this directory too. Be aware about it when using it. :D

Answer 12

I took another approach inspired by @john-rees above - especially when his approach started to fail for me at some point. Basically recurse the subtree and sort files by their path-length - delete from longest to the shortest

Get-ChildItem $tfsLocalPath -Recurse |  #Find all children
    Select-Object FullName,@{Name='PathLength';Expression={($_.FullName.Length)}} |  #Calculate the length of their path
    Sort-Object PathLength -Descending | #sort by path length descending
    %{ Get-Item -LiteralPath $_.FullName } | 
    Remove-Item -Force

Regarding the -LiteralPath magic, here's another gotchya that may be hitting you: https://superuser.com/q/212808

Answer 13

Really simple:

remove-item -path <type in file or directory name>, press Enter

Answer 14

To delete the complete contents including the folder structure use

get-childitem $dest -recurse | foreach ($_) {remove-item $_.fullname -recurse}

The -recurse added to remove-item ensures interactive prompts are disabled.

Answer 15

There seems to be issues where Remove-Item -Force -Recurse can intermittently fail on Windows because the underlying filesystem is asynchronous. This answer seems to address it. The user has also been actively involved with the Powershell team on GitHub.

Answer 16

If you're committed to powershell, you can use this, as explained in the accepted answer:

rm -r -fo targetDir

But I've found it to be faster to use Windows Command Prompt

rmdir /s/q targetDir

In addition to being faster, another advantage to using the command prompt option is that it starts deleting files immediately (powershell does some enumeration first), so if something breaks while it's running, you've at least made some progress in deleting files.

Answer 17

Based on @John Rees's answer with some improvements.

Initial files tree . /f

C:\USERS\MEGAM\ONEDRIVE\ESCRITORIO\PWSHCFX
│   X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
│   z
│   Z-Config.json
│   Z-CoreFxs.ps1
│
├───HappyBirthday Unicorn
│       collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip
│       hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip
│       hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip
│       hontana.zip
│       Unicorn - Original.pdf
│       Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png
│       Unicorn.pdf
│       Unicorn.png
│       Unicorn2.pdf
│       Unicorn3.pdf
│       Unicorn4.pdf
│       Unicorn5.pdf
│       UnicornMLP.pdf
│
├───x
└───y

Code

function Get-ItemTree() {
    param (
        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Path = ".",

        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Include = "*",

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $IncludePath,

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $Force

    )
    $result = @()
    if (!(Test-Path $Path)) {
        throw "Invalid path. The path `"$Path`" doesn't exist." #Test if path is valid.
    }
    if (Test-Path $Path -PathType Container)
    {
        $result += (Get-ChildItem "$Path" -Include "$Include" -Force:$Force -Recurse) # Add all items inside of a container, if path is a container.
    }
    if($IncludePath.IsPresent)
    {
        $result += @(Get-Item $Path -Force) # Add the $Path in the result.
    }
    $result = ,@($result | Sort-Object -Descending -Unique -Property "PSPath") # Sort elements by PSPath property, order in descending, remove duplicates with unique.
    return  $result
}

function Remove-ItemTree {
    param (
        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Path, 

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $ForceDebug
    )
    (Get-ItemTree -Path $Path -Force -IncludePath) | ForEach-Object{
        Remove-Item "$($_.PSPath)" -Force
        if($PSBoundParameters.Debug.IsPresent)
        {
            Write-Debug -Message "Deleted: $($_.PSPath)" -Debug:$ForceDebug
        }
    }
}

Write-Host "███ Test 1"
$a = Get-ItemTree "./Z-Config.json" -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$true # Tree of a file path. 1 element the file (IncludePath parameter = $true)
$a | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 2"
$b = Get-ItemTree "./Z-Config.json" -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$false # Tree of a file path. No Result (IncludePath parameter = $false)
$b | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 3"
$c = Get-ItemTree "." -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$true # Tree of a container path. All elements of tree and the container included (IncludePath parameter = $true).
$c | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 4"
$d = Get-ItemTree "." -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$false # All elements of tree, except the container (IncludePath parameter = $false).
$d | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Remove-ItemTree -Path "./HappyBirthday Unicorn" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./x" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./y" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./z" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove file. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.

Get-ChildItem -Force

---

Output

███ Test 1
"Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json"

███ Test 2

███ Test 3
[
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-CoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\z",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\y",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1",       
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\x",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\UnicornMLP.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn5.pdf",  
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn4.pdf",  
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn3.pdf",  
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn2.pdf",  
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.png",   
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.pdf",   
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn - Original.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hontana.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx"
]

███ Test 4
[
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-CoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\z",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\y",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\x",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\UnicornMLP.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn5.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn4.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn3.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn2.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn - Original.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hontana.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn"
]

DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\UnicornMLP.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn5.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn4.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn3.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn2.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn.png
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn - Original.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hontana.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\x
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\y
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\z


    Directory: C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
la---           17/5/2021     1:57            272 X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
la---           14/5/2021    18:51            252 Z-Config.json
la---           17/5/2021     4:04          30931 Z-CoreFxs.ps1

tree . /f

C:\USERS\MEGAM\ONEDRIVE\ESCRITORIO\PWSHCFX
    X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
    Z-Config.json
    Z-CoreFxs.ps1

No subfolders exist

Answer 18

$users = get-childitem \\ServerName\c$\users\ | select -ExpandProperty name

foreach ($user in $users)

{
remove-item -path "\\Servername\c$\Users\$user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office365\PowerShell\*" -Force -Recurse
Write-Warning "$user Cleaned"
}

Wrote the above to clean some logfiles without deleting the parent directory and this works perfectly!

Answer 19

rm -r <folder_name>
c:\>rm -r "my photos"