# Deleting Safely: Remove-Item, -WhatIf and -Confirm Remove-Item deletes files and folders with no Recycle Bin to catch them, so you rehearse a delete with -WhatIf, approve each item with -Confirm, and add -Recurse only for a folder you've looked inside. Novice · PowerShell · Operating System · Updated November 10, 2026 ## After this lesson you can - Delete files and folders with Remove-Item, using -Recurse for a folder that isn't empty - Rehearse a delete with -WhatIf, or approve each item with -Confirm, before anything is removed ## Key takeaways - `Remove-Item` deletes files and folders for good. There's no Recycle Bin in PowerShell: removed means gone. - `-WhatIf` (read "what if I did this?") lists what a command would remove and removes nothing. Run it before every delete. - `-Confirm` asks before each item: Y removes it, N keeps it. - An empty folder goes straight away. A folder with things in it needs `-Recurse`, which removes everything inside it too. The movers have gone, and the hallway of your new apartment is full of things to throw out: a vase that didn't survive the stairs, a mountain of bubble wrap, and a drawer of take-out menus the last tenant left behind. Your computer has its own hallway to clear: a Downloads folder of old installers, a folder of test files, a log that grew too big. In File Explorer you'd select them and press Delete. In PowerShell, deleting is one command, and it doesn't come with a safety net, so this lesson teaches the safe habit first. Deleting can't be undone, so everything here happens in a practice folder of made-up files. ## A practice apartment Copy these lines into PowerShell and press Enter. They make a folder called `moving-day` in your practice folder, with a hallway holding three files, an empty box and a junk drawer of old menus: ```powershell New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$HOME\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\box-books", "$HOME\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\junk-drawer" | Out-Null Set-Location "$HOME\terminal-practice\moving-day" Set-Content hallway\broken-vase.txt 'Three pieces of what was once a vase.' Set-Content hallway\bubble-wrap.txt 'So. Much. Bubble wrap.' Set-Content hallway\spare-key.txt 'A spare key on a ring with a little plastic dog.' Set-Content hallway\junk-drawer\menu-pizza.txt 'Corner Pizza: two large pizzas for $20.' Set-Content hallway\junk-drawer\menu-noodles.txt 'Noodle Bar: free delivery on Tuesdays.' Set-Content hallway\junk-drawer\menu-tacos.txt 'Taco Stand: three tacos for $7.' ``` They print nothing when they work, and they leave you in the `moving-day` folder. Each `Set-Content` line writes a small file; *Writing to Files: Set-Content, Add-Content and >*, the next lesson, explains how. Running the lines again puts back everything you delete, so you can practice as often as you like. ## Throwing things out: Remove-Item Look before you throw anything out. `Get-ChildItem` shows what's in the hallway: ```powershell Get-ChildItem hallway ``` ```text Directory: C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- d---- 8/1/2026 10:15 AM box-books d---- 8/1/2026 10:15 AM junk-drawer -a--- 8/1/2026 10:15 AM 39 broken-vase.txt -a--- 8/1/2026 10:15 AM 24 bubble-wrap.txt -a--- 8/1/2026 10:15 AM 50 spare-key.txt ``` Your dates and times will be the moment you made the files. Now throw out the vase. `Remove-Item` (read "remove item") deletes an *item*, PowerShell's word for anything `Get-ChildItem` lists, a file or a folder: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\broken-vase.txt ``` It prints nothing, and the vase is gone. Not in a bin: gone. When you press Delete in File Explorer, Windows moves the file to the **Recycle Bin**, a holding folder where you can still get it back. `Remove-Item` doesn't use the Recycle Bin, so there's nothing to restore. ![File Explorer's Delete moves a file into the Recycle Bin, where it can still be taken back out; Remove-Item takes the file straight out, with no bin in between](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/11/d2241ae05e9e4046aff5f6c9516989a3.webp) A typo is harmless: `Remove-Item hallway\bubble-rap.txt` answers `Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\bubble-rap.txt' because it does not exist.` and removes nothing. Commas between paths remove several items at once. The short names for `Remove-Item` are `del` and `rm`, among others. ## Rehearse first: -WhatIf, then -Confirm A wildcard can take more than you meant. `*.txt` (read "star dot t x t") matches every name ending in `.txt`, as *Wildcards and Filters* showed. Before you run a delete like that, add `-WhatIf`, read "what if I did this?". PowerShell lists what it would remove, and removes nothing: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\*.txt -WhatIf ``` ```text What if: Performing the operation "Remove File" on target "C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\bubble-wrap.txt". What if: Performing the operation "Remove File" on target "C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\spare-key.txt". ``` The rehearsal caught a mistake: the spare key would go out with the bubble wrap. `-Confirm` lets you decide item by item. Here the answers are `y` for the bubble wrap and `n` for the key: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\*.txt -Confirm ``` ```text Confirm Are you sure you want to perform this action? Performing the operation "Remove File" on target "C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\bubble-wrap.txt". [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): y Confirm Are you sure you want to perform this action? Performing the operation "Remove File" on target "C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\spare-key.txt". [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): n ``` Type a letter and press Enter. **Y** removes this item and **N** keeps it; **A** (Yes to All) removes the rest without asking, and **L** (No to All) keeps them all. Enter on its own means Y, the default, so read each line before you press it. Make it a habit: **before any delete with a wildcard or a folder in it, run it with `-WhatIf`.** If the list is right, press the up arrow, take `-WhatIf` off the end, and press Enter. ## Folders, and -Recurse An empty folder goes straight away, like an empty box: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\box-books ``` A folder with things in it makes PowerShell stop and ask, because everything inside would go too. Answering `n` keeps it: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\junk-drawer ``` ```text Confirm The item at C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\junk-drawer has children and the Recurse parameter was not specified. If you continue, all children will be removed with the item. Are you sure you want to continue? [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): n ``` *Children* are the things inside, as in `Get-ChildItem`. `-Recurse` (read "recurse": go down into every folder inside) says "yes, the folder and everything in it". Rehearse it first: ```powershell Remove-Item hallway\junk-drawer -Recurse -WhatIf ``` ```text What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\moving-day\hallway\junk-drawer". ``` The rehearsal names only the folder, not the three menus inside it, so look inside with `Get-ChildItem hallway\junk-drawer` before you go on. When you're sure, run `Remove-Item hallway\junk-drawer -Recurse`. Now `Get-ChildItem hallway` lists one thing: the spare key you kept. **On a Mac or Linux**, there's no bin in PowerShell either, and paths use `/`. Windows PowerShell 5.1 deletes, rehearses and asks the same way. ## Try it in the terminal [Terminal Quest: Moving Day, goals 6 to 7](https://www.ask-codey.com/games/terminal-quest/new-place/powershell/step): played right on the lesson page. The movers left a broken vase and a lot of bubble wrap in the hallway of your new apartment. Throw them out, then get rid of the empty boxes. ## Check yourself 2 questions to try on the lesson page. ## So what Every cleanup, from an old Downloads folder to the files a program leaves behind, ends with a delete. Rehearse it with `-WhatIf` first, and a wildcard or a full folder never takes more than you meant. ## Key terms - [Remove-Item](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/remove-item) - [-WhatIf and -Confirm](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/whatif-and-confirm) - [Recycle Bin](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/recycle-bin) ## Cheat sheets - [Deleting Safely: Remove-Item, -WhatIf and -Confirm](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-deleting-safely-cheat-sheet) ## Related - [Writing to Files: Set-Content, Add-Content and >](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-writing-to-files) - [Wildcards and Filters](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-wildcards-and-filters) Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-deleting-safely