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Windows delete files in all directories




Deleting files are good and bad.

It is good to delete files because it will tidy up your computer, get rid of unwanted or outdated files and free up space on the drive.

It is bad to delete file or files if no backup is available and the data is of great importance.

So deleting files should be done carefully and cautiously to make sure that deleted data will not be needed anymore.

How to delete files automatically in all folders and subfolders?

The batch file will come handy to automate file deletion.

Below is an example that deletes files on the temp folder for any “dll” files.

This can be applied to any folder path but don't do this on the c:\windows folder or the system will be completely unusable.

Open a command prompt and copy and paste the commands below or save it to notepad and run the script as a batch file.

C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp>FOR /f "tokens=*" %a in ('dir *.dll  /B /S') DO del %a

Above command will find all the “.dll” files on the temp folder and delete it.

Once the deletion had been done run again the command but this time with the "echo" option and if file deletion has been done successfully it show file not found.

C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp>FOR /f "tokens=*" %a in ('dir *.dll  /B /S') DO echo %a
File Not Found

This command "FOR /f "tokens=*" %a in ('dir *.dll  /B /S') DO echo %a" can be used also to find directories that contains ".dll" files. Just change “.dll” parameter to any file extension to find other files.

Output or result can be saved to a text file by applying a ">" or redirection operator after the "echo %a" command.

That's it a simple batch file can automate file deletion in all directories, just use the script safely to make sure no important files are deleted.


Cheers.. till next time. hope it helps.

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