How do I delete a large directory in Windows?

Asked By 100 points N/A Posted on -
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 What is the fastest way to delete a very large folder in windows?

If I do it using Windows Explorer I have to wait an eternity.

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Best Answer by Paul Holtz
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Answered By 0 points N/A #96203

How do I delete a large directory in Windows?

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When you delete a folder through Windows Explorer, it will try and send it to the Recycle Bin which makes the entire process longer because Recycle Bin will still have to calculate the amount of time it will take to delete everything in the folder and tell you about it. One way to make it faster is to skip the Recycle Bin by doing Shift + Delete to delete the files right away and permanently. You can also use the command:

rmdir /s /q folder

Do this from the command prompt and see to it you at least have user account privileges to make changes on the folder.

Answered By 0 points N/A #96204

How do I delete a large directory in Windows?

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Hi

Yes, you are right sometimes, depending on our system settings to store restore point and antivirus etc make it more difficult to delete heavy folders and a large amount of files. In windows environment you can go to "COMMAND PROMPT INTERFACE" in order to delete files and folders. Do the following steps and you will have your folders deleted in seconds.

Recommendations:

You must make sure to acknowledge that once you delete those files through cmd will be very difficult for you to undelete again. near to impossible.

Steps to do :

  • First you have to make sure and locate the folder which you want to delete. You can use windows explorer to locate the folder and right click on any file and click on "cmd here". Alternatively you can go to Start>Run>CMD (press enter) to run the command line interface.
  • After locating the folder go into the root directory of that folder . e.g., In " c:techyvmisc " you want to delete "misc" folder so you must go to "c:techyv" which is its root folder.
  • Write in cmd interface "cd"  without quotes and press enter.
  • Write "cd techyv"  without quotes and press enter. CD means change directory
  • now you will be here c:techyv
  • Now write "del misc" without quotes and press enter. It will ask you to make sure do you really want to delete the folder's contents ? press "Y" and enter.
  • You are done. !
  • now you may just remove the empty folder by writing "rd misc" without quotes and press enter.

Hope this might help

Answered By 75 points N/A #96205

How do I delete a large directory in Windows?

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Hello Kanck,

The fastest way to delete a large folder in windows, though still using the windows explorer, is by ensuring that you have the programs and other applications that are running on your computer closed so as to limit the memory usage.

The deleting process becomes too slow when you have so many programs and applications running and at the same time you try deleting, and therefore only a little space of the memory will be allocated to the windows explorer during the deleting process. Closing the other programs and applications will ensure that windows explorer has enough space of memory and therefore delete faster.

Regards
Lee Hung

Answered By 590495 points N/A #326545

How do I delete a large directory in Windows?

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In Windows, when you delete a folder that is very big, by default, Windows deletes that folder permanently if it is too big to fit in the Recycle Bin. But if the allotted size or space for the Recycle Bin is still big enough to hold the big folder, Windows will not delete it permanently but instead will store it in the Recycle Bin.

This is a good way to restore files you have deleted before when you need it. On the other hand, if you want to delete all files and folders permanently regardless of their size without going to the Recycle Bin, the solution is to adjust the setting of the bin. On your desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and select “Properties”.

In the properties window, select the drive to which you want to apply the setting. Next, under “Settings for selected location”, select “Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.” If you want to be prompted each time you delete something, check “Display delete confirmation dialog”. When you are finished, click “OK”.

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