How to Force Delete Files or Folders in Windows 10

Want to force delete file or force delete folder Windows 10 using Command Prompt? Learn how to force delete a file or force delete a folder in Windows 10 PC.

We do have lots of files and folders on our laptops, computers where we store our data. Over the time, these files and folders multiply as we download new stuff from the Internet.

Sometimes, it is possible that you are not able to delete a file or folder from your computer running on Windows 10 or any previous operating systems.

If we look at the common practice, we can simply delete any file or folder just by pressing the Delete key. However, if you are having viruses on your system it might restrict you to delete any file or folder which you are trying to.

It is important that you delete all the files and folders which are getting multiplied by the virus as it might infect your entire system. The normal process won’t work here and one has to force delete file or folder in this case.

force delete folder Windows 10

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The processes to force delete a file or force delete folder Windows 10 is a bit different as compared to the normal deletion process. With the force delete method, you will be able to easily delete any undeletable files and folders which you wish to.

These below explained solutions to force delete folder in Windows 10 will not only work if your system is infected with virus or malware and is leading to the creation of multiple files and folders but will also help you out in normal scenarios where you are not able to delete any file or folder with your system being secure.

To force delete a file or folder in Windows 10 PC, you can use either a third party force delete folder software and file deleter software like Unlocker or you can go with the Windows Command Prompt which comes pre-installed in all Microsoft Windows operating systems.

So without any delay, let’s learn how to force delete file or how to force delete folder in Windows 10 operating system using Command Prompt and delete undeletable stuff.

Table of Contents:

How to Force Delete a File in Windows 10

Deleting undeletable files using Command Prompt is a pretty simple thing if you know the right command line and how to apply them. Follow the below explained instructions and learn how to force delete files using CMD on Windows 10 computer:

Step (1): At first, right-click on the Start button and select Command Prompt (Admin) option from the power user menu to open Command Prompt with administrative privileges on your system.

Step (3): Once the Command Prompt window is opened, enter the following force delete file command line and press Enter key:

DEL /F /Q /A <File Path>

If you are confused by the attributes which you see above, don’t worry. In the above command line, /F parameter stands for force deletion of the files. /Q parameter ensures the forces deletion of read-only files. /A parameter is here to select only the files with the ready for archiving attribute.

And finally, you have to replace <File path> with the path of the file which you want to force delete from your computer.

We have shared an example below of how the command would look like if we want to force delete a file named Report.txt which is present on our desktop.

DEL /F /Q /A C:\Users\Dell\Desktop\Report.txt

force delete file

Once you have executed this command, you should be able to delete the file which you wanted to. We hope now you know very well how to delete undeletable files using command prompt in Windows 10 computer.

How to Force Delete Folder in Windows 10

The above-explained method is going to help you in force deleting a file, but if you want to learn how to force delete a folder using CMD on Windows 10 computer then follow the below explained instructions:

Step (1): First of all, open Command Prompt with admin rights just by right-clicking on the Start button and then selecting Command Prompt (Admin) option from the power user menu.

Step (2): Once you have opened the Command Prompt window, enter the following force delete folder command line and press Enter key:

RD /S /Q <Path of the Folder>

 

Here RD stands for Remove Directory, /S parameter is responsible for deleting all the subfolder and files. /Q parameter deletes all the directories without any confirmation.

And finally, you have to replace <Path of the Folder> with the path of the folder which you want to force delete from your computer.

Here is an example, how the complete command will look like if you want to delete a particular folder.

RD /S /Q C:\Users\Dell\Desktop\Report

force delete folder

Once you have executed this command, you should be able to delete the folder which you wanted to.

Thus, you can see how simple is to force delete undeletable files using CMD and force delete folder in Windows 10 PC.

Conclusion

These are the two simplest methods which will help you in force deleting files and force deleting folders from your Windows 10 computer using command prompt.

If you have any better solutions of how to force delete a file without using any software or how to force delete folder Windows 10 then feel free to let us know using the comment section below.

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4 thoughts on “How to Force Delete Files or Folders in Windows 10”

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