Deleting large folders on Windows

• Solution

I was updating my backup drive and needed to delete some huge folders on that drive. Deleting large folders in Windows explorer could take quite a while because Windows would first calculate the folder’s size, which is time-consuming. Therefore, it would be great to know how to quickly delete huge folders on Windows.

Solution

Suppose the large folder to be deleted is called foldername.

1. Open cmd.
2. Type cd C:\backup\foldername to navigate to the folder to be deleted.

3. Type del /f/q/s *.* > nul to delete all files in foldername, while leaving the folder structure intact (for now).

   Explanation of this command can be found in the Microsoft documentation.

4. Type cd .. to navigate to the parent folder of foldername.

5. Type rmdir /q/s foldername to delete foldername along with its subfolders.

   Explanation of this command can be found in the Microsoft documentation.