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windowscmdwsh

"rm -rf" equivalent for Windows?

I need a way to recursively delete a folder and its children.

Is there a prebuilt tool for this, or do I need to write one?

DEL /S doesn't delete directories.

DELTREE was removed from Windows 2000+

Solution

  • RMDIR or RD if you are using the classic Command Prompt (cmd.exe):

    rd /s /q "path"

    RMDIR [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path

    RD [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path

    /S Removes all directories and files in the specified directory in addition to the directory itself. Used to remove a directory tree.

    /Q Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to remove a directory tree with /S

    If you are using PowerShell you can use Remove-Item (which is aliased to del, erase, rd, ri, rm and rmdir) and takes a -Recurse argument that can be shorted to -r

    rd -r "path"