How To Delete Files and Folders Using PowerShell in Windows

How to Delete Files and Folders Using PowerShell in Windows 11

Honestly, deleting files or folders should be a simple thing, right? Just toss them into Recycle Bin, easy. But once you get into automation or just need more control, PowerShell comes into play. That thing’s pretty powerful—but also kinda intimidating at first. I’ve been there, typing commands nervously, worried I’d wipe out my whole drive. So here’s some real-world tips based on what I’ve learned the hard way.

Getting the Full Path of Your Files and Folders

First, before diving into commands, you gotta know exactly where the files are. Windows makes this weird, especially if you’re not used to it. To grab the full path, open File Explorer with Windows key + E. Find what you want to delete, select it, then do a Shift + Right-Click. Choose “Copy as path”. Now, this gives you a path with quotes around it—like "C:\Users\YourName\Documents\File.txt". Don’t include those quotes in your PowerShell command unless you want trouble; just delete the surrounding quotes when you paste it into the terminal.

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can go to the address bar in Explorer, click there, and select “Copy address as text”. That can sometimes give you a cleaner path, but watch out for weird characters like “<” and “>”, which Windows sometimes adds. To double-check, you can also open PowerShell or Command Prompt in the folder and run Get-Item . or Resolve-Path .. Sometimes that helps verify you’ve got the right location, especially if the path is complicated or contains spaces.

Running PowerShell as Admin

Next up, you really should run PowerShell with admin rights—because deleting system files or protected data without proper permissions is a nightmare. To do this, press Windows key + R, type powershell, then hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter. A UAC prompt will probably pop up—just click “Yes”. If you don’t, you might get “Access Denied” errors later. Also, if you right-click the PowerShell icon or Start menu, you can select “Run as administrator”. Sometimes I open Windows Terminal this way, since it’s faster and more flexible, especially if you want multiple tabs or profiles.

How to Delete a Single File

This part is where it gets real. To delete a specific file, the command looks like this:

Remove-Item -Path "C:\Full\Path\To\Your\File.txt" -Confirm

Drop in the full path you copied earlier—quotes are necessary if there are spaces. The -Confirm flag is a lifesaver because it asks you for confirmation before actually deleting. Think of it like that last checkpoint—better safe than sorry, especially since accidental deletion is permanent. When prompted, just press A (for “Yes to All”) and hit Enter. That way, if you’re deleting multiple files or folders, it’ll confirm once and wipe everything in one go. Without that, you’ll be prompted each time, which could be annoying — but safer if you want to be cautious.

Deleting Folders (and All Inside)

Deleting folders is pretty similar, except you add -Recurse so PowerShell deletes everything inside. For example:

Remove-Item -Path "C:\Path\To\Your\Folder" -Recurse -Confirm

The -Recurse flag just tells PowerShell to delete everything inside that folder too—no exceptions. Combining it with -Confirm means you’ll get prompted before each delete, and pressing A will confirm all. Be super careful here; recursive commands can wipe out hundreds of files if you’re not paying attention. It’s very powerful but dangerous if misused.

Notes on Confirmations and Repeating Deletes

Every time you run a delete with -Confirm, it’ll ask for your approval. If you’re 100% sure, you can use -Force to skip prompts, but that’s risky, especially when you’re deleting multiple files or folders. I usually prefer confirming once, then running commands for each path I want gone. Better to double-check than to recover from a mistake—trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way.

Troubleshooting & Extra Tips

• Double-check the full path! One typo can mean deleting the wrong file or folder. Run Test-Path or Resolve-Path first to make sure your command points where you want.
• If a file won’t delete, it might be protected or in use. Close all programs that could be accessing the file, or try booting into Safe Mode. Sometimes Windows locks files trying to protect itself—so Safe Mode can help, but remember, you usually still need admin rights. Also, if the file is encrypted with BitLocker or similar, consider decrypting first or disabling encryption temporarily.
• Never delete critical Windows system folders like C:\Windows unless you’re in recovery mode, or you know exactly what you’re doing. That can brick your OS. When in doubt, test on dummy files first, or in a sandbox folder, just to get a feel for how the commands work.

Extra Considerations & BIOS Stuff

In some rare cases, deleting files or folders may require toggling security settings in your BIOS or UEFI—like Secure Boot or TPM configurations—especially if you’re trying to modify protected data or hardware-related boot files. Keep in mind, typically your permissions are the main hurdle. If you are deleting things important to Windows, it might even be blocked by your OEM or manufacturer—so check for OEM-restrictions or updates to your BIOS/UEFI if options are missing or grayed out. If options are missing, updating your BIOS or resetting to default settings might help, but do that only if you’re comfortable with it.

Wrapping Up

Using PowerShell to delete files and folders is a powerful skill to have, whether for cleaning up bulk data or automating repetitive tasks. It’s not that complicated, but paths, syntax, and confirmation prompts need your attention. After a little practice, it’s almost faster than clicking around. Just remember to be careful—double-check paths, don’t delete what you shouldn’t, and always back up important stuff before risky operations.

Hope this helped — it took me ages to figure it all out, so if it saves someone else a weekend of frustration, that’s worth sharing. Good luck, and happy cleaning!