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DEL
Delete one or more files.
syntax DEL [options] [/A:file_attributes] files_to_delete
key files_to_delete : This may be a filename, a list of files or a Wildcard
options /P Give a Yes/No Prompt before deleting. /F Ignore read-only setting and delete anyway (FORCE) /S Delete from all Subfolders (DELTREE) /Q Quiet mode, do not give a Yes/No Prompt before deleting. /A Select files to delete based on file_attributes
file_attributes: R Read-only -R NOT Read-only S System -S NOT System H Hidden -H NOT Hidden A Archive -A NOT Archive
Wildcards: These can be combined with part of a filename
* Match any characters
? Match any ONE character
Examples:
To delete HelloWorld.TXT
DEL HelloWorld.TXT
To delete "Hello Big World.TXT"
DEL "Hello Big World.TXT"
To delete all files that start with the letter A
DEL A*
To delete all files that end with the letter A
DEL *A.*
To delete all files with a .DOC extension
DEL *.DOC
To delete all read only files
DEL /a:R *
To delete all files including any that are read only
DEL /F *
Files are sometimes created with the reserved names: CON, AUX, COM1, COM2, COM3,
COM4, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, PRN, NUL
To delete these use the syntax: DEL \\.\C:\somedir\LPT1
Folders
If a folder name is given instead of a file, all files in the folder will be
deleted, but the folder itself will not be removed.
Temporary Files
You should clear out TEMP files on a regular basis - this is best done at startup
when no applications are running. To delete all files in all subfolders of C:\temp\
but leave the folder structure intact:
DEL /F /S /Q %TEMP%
When clearing out the TEMP directory it is not generally worthwhile
removing the subfolders too - they don't use much space and constantly deleting
and recreating them can potentially increase fragmentation within the Master
File Table.
Deleting a file will not prevent third party utilities from un-deleting it again,
however you can turn any file into a zero-byte file to destroy the file allocation
chain like this:
TYPE nul > C:\examples\MyFile.txt
DEL C:\examples\MyFile.txt
ERASE is a synonym for DEL
If Command Extensions are enabled (default)
DEL /S [path]filename(s) will display a list of the files deleted
If Command Extensions are disabled:
DEL /S [path]filename(s) will display a list of any files it cannot find
Windows XP
If a file (or folder) appears to be 'undeletable' this is often
caused by the indexing service.
Right click the file you need to delete, choose properties, advanced and untick
"allow indexing" you will then be able to delete the file.
To cure the problem permanently - Control Panel, Add/Remove programs, Win Accessories,
indexing service.
Delete Locked files (Typically IE temp files or the Offline cache)
This works on any version of NT, 2000 or XP
Close all applications
Open a command prompt
Click Start, and then Shut Down
Simultaneously press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT.
While you keep these keys pressed, click Cancel in the Shut Down Windows dialog box.
In the command prompt window, navigate to the cache location, and delete all files from the folder (DEL /s)
At the command prompt, type explorer, and then press ENTER.
DELTREE
Previous versions of Windows had the DELTREE command that deletes all files
and sub folders, DEL /s will delete all files, RD /s will remove all files and
folders including the root folder.
:: DELTREE.cmd :: From tip 617 at Jsiinc.com @echo off pushd %1 del /q *.* for /f "Tokens=*" %%G in ('dir /B') do rd /s /q "%%G" popd
It devoured my paper, it was a really good paper - Ellen Feiss
Related Commands:
DELPROF Delete NT user profiles
Delrp - Delete a file/directory and NTFS reparse points.(Win
2K ResKit)
RD - Delete folders or entire folder trees ()
CleanMgr - Automated cleanup of Temp files, Internet
files, downloaded files, recycle bin
INUSE - updated file
replacement utility (may not preserve file permissions)
Q120716 - Delete in-use
files with rm
Q320081 - Cannot delete
a file or folder
Q159199 -
A file cannot be deleted (NTFS)
Delete files older than X days
How to change the Windows NT recycle bin
Equivalent Linux BASH commands:
rm - Remove files
rmdir - Remove folder(s)