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How to Delete Large Folders Quickly on Windows 11

Sep 18, 2023

If there are many useless large folders on your computer, it is recommended that you clean them up regularly. No matter how big your computer hard drive is, there is always not enough space. Every saved file, every system upgrade, and every newly installed game takes up valuable memory space.

And when you want to delete a folder with a lot of files in File Explorer, the process is very slow. If you want to save time and increase efficiency, you can use commands to speed up the process. This article will show you how to quickly delete large folders.

Method1. Delete large folders quickly using Command Prompt

You can follow the steps below to delete large folders via Command Prompt.

Step1. Run Command Prompt as administrator

Click on Windows Start and type Command Prompt in the search box. Find the matched item and select run as administrator.

Step2. Enter the command to delete large folders

Type the following command and hit Enter.

cd /d path

Notice: Replace the path with the path of the folder you want to delete.

Then type the following command and click Enter.

del /f/q/s *.* > nul

Continue typing the following command and click Enter.

cd..

Finally, type the following command, and then select Enter to delete the target folder.

rmdir /q/s “FOLDER-NAME”

Notice: Please replace "FOLDER-NAME" with the name of the target folder.

Method2. Delete large folders quickly using the context menu

You can also create a script and modify the Registry to create a new entry in the context menu to delete large folders.

Step1. Create a script

Click on Windows Start and type Notepad in the search box. Find the matched item and run as administrator.

Copy the following content into the Notepad text file.

@ECHO OFF

ECHO Delete Folder: %CD%?

PAUSE

SET FOLDER=%CD%

CD /

DEL /F/Q/S "%FOLDER%" > NUL

RMDIR /Q/S "%FOLDER%"

EXIT

Click on File and select Save As, save the script to the path C:\Windows. and rename the script to quick_delete.bat. Make sure the file has a .bat extension.

Step2. Edit the registry

Click on Windows Start and type Registry Editor in the search box. Find the matched item and open it.

Paste the following location into the address bar and click Enter.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\

Right-click the Shell key, select New, and click on Key. Name the key as Fast Delete and press Enter.

Then right-click the Fast Delete key, select New, and click on Key. Name the newly created key command.

Select the command key, and double-click on the default string in the right-hand column. Change the value of the key with the following line.

cmd /c "cd %1 && quick_delete.bat"

Finally, click on the OK button to close the window.

After you complete the steps, you can “Shift + right-click” a large folder and select the “Fast Delete” option from the context menu to remove it。

Delete useless large files, which can effectively release hard disk space. This not only allows the computer to run more smoothly but also provides more storage space for other files and applications. Hope this article can help you delete large folders. If you have other difficulties with computer use, welcome to visit WiseCleaner.

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