How to empty recycling bin in batch

Question

I need a code to empty the recycling bin without conformation I have tried the simple del $Recycle.Bin but it says access denied even when elevated does any one know a code I could use.

Mikey

This command does it for me: powershell.exe Clear-RecycleBin -force – Klepac

Answer 1

This emptied my bin without any confirmation.

@ECHO OFF
start /b /wait powershell.exe -command "$Shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application;$RecycleBin = $Shell.Namespace(0xA);$RecycleBin.Items() | foreach{Remove-Item $_.Path -Recurse -Confirm:$false}"

Jen

but maybe is permissions issue if this fails. Are you trying to delete your own recycle bin or one owned by another user ? – Jen

All of them from all accounts – Mikey

I have tried it and it says $Shell is not a valid program or command – Mikey

forgot to add the start wrapper to run powershell from batch. – Jen

The powershell command doesn't empty the recycle bin through a system command, but just deletes the files individually, right? – Infarct

Yep, it loops through them one by one. – Jen

C:\$Recycle.Bin\S-1-5-blah\$R4JAJOK.pdf: You do not have sufficient access rights to perform this operation. <-- I get this error on 4 files with a read only attribute. There are a whole load of files left in the folder which are all 544 bytes in size - JPG DOC TXT etc. – Infarct

Can you delete it after taking ownership ? – Jen

I just saw your reply (no @Infarct there). If a script has to take ownership then it would also need admin permissions, but it was just the read-only attribute that was different. I'm not sure what the 544 byte files were designed to do - the binary content looked like a link to a folder. – Infarct

Answer 2

Above answers are ok for cmd batch files but for the new powershell there is a better way

Simply use the cmdlet

Clear-RecycleBin

Optionally you can use the -Force or -Confirm:$false parameters so it won't ask for confirmation

For more info open powershell and type

Get-Help Clear-RecycleBin

Lardon

Answer 3

I have just found this.

erase /s/q/f "C:\$RECYCLE.BIN\*">nul

Mikey

Answer 4

Guaranteed to delete all content in the Recycle Bin for the selected drive while leaving the folder itself intact:

C:\$Recycle Bin\>rd . /q /s

• Change to the required drive
• Change into the $Recycle Bin folder
• Run the command rd . /q /s [remove-dir (currentdir) /quiet /subdir]

You will get an error that the current directory is still in use (because that is your current location) and can't be deleted. This is expected behaviour because I want the $Recycle Bin folder to remain.

Inna

Answer 5

I thought the /s parameter had to come before the /q:
rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.Bin should be the command to run and empty recycle bin from a batch file, right?

Dementia

actually, it makes no difference whether you use rd /s /q or rd /q /s – Nolly