Rmdir directory not empty windows

Rmdir directory not empty (Linux) or “The directory is not empty.” (Windows) are error messages that appear when you’re trying to remove a directory that contains files or other directories using the “rmdir” command. This article will explain why “rmdir” cannot remove the directory, and you’ll learn seven solutions that you can apply on Linux and Windows.

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The best part is that we will show commands that will fix this issue, and you’ll know how they work to achieve your objective. With that said, grab your computer because we’ll dig deeper to know why “rmdir” is showing this error and what you can do about it.

Why “Rmdir” Is Showing That a Directory Is “Non-empty”?

Rmdir is showing that a directory is “non-empty” because you’re trying to remove a directory that contains files or other directories. However, “rmdir” can only remove an empty directory, and in this situation, you want it to do otherwise. As a result, you’ll see the “Directory not empty” error.

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– The Directory Contains Files And/or Other Directories

Any attempt to use “rmdir” on a directory that contains files or other directories will fail with the error message “rmdir: failed to remove <directory_name>: Directory not empty”. That’s because “rmdir” was designed to remove empty directories, and the reason behind this behavior is to prevent accidental deletion of important data.

Otherwise, if “rmdir” were allowed to remove “non-empty” directories without any warning, it could lead to unintended data loss. For example, the following folder structure shows that the “parent_directory” has two subdirectories with files within them.

As it stands, the following command will fail because the “parent_directory” is not empty. The same error occurs in Linux, Git Bash on Windows, and the Windows command prompt (CMD). In the next section, you’ll learn different methods that can delete “parent_directory” along with its contents.

How To Remove Non-empty Directories in Linux and Windows?

To remove “non-empty” directories in Linux and Windows, use “rm -vrf” or “rm ir” for removal with visual confirmations or prompts. Also, you can use “rm -Ir” or delete multiple directories at once. Finally, you can force the deletion or use “del” and “rd/rmdir” on Windows.

– Use “Rm -Vrf” for Removal With Visual Confirmations

The “rm -vrf” is a delete directory command that will remove a directory that’s not empty, and it will list out the files and folders that it deleted. This is the “visual confirmation” that we’re talking about, and this helps you know that the command did what you asked. Now, the following is an example of how to use it to delete a folder, and here we’re deleting the “parent_directory”.

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The following is a breakdown of the command:

• “rm”: This is the command used to remove files and directories in Unix/Linux systems. The name “rm” stands for “remove.”
• “-v”: This is an optional flag that stands for “verbose” and it provides feedback on what is being deleted.
• “-r”: It enables the removal of directories and their contents recursively.
• “-f”: This is another optional flag that stands for “force”. It instructs the command to remove files and directories without prompting for confirmation, even if they are write-protected or marked as read-only.

Now, when we run the command, we get the following output on the terminal after the deletion:

– Pass Lowercase “I” to “Rm” for Removal With Prompts

The “rm -ir” is another option that can delete a directory that’s not empty, but it gives you the grace to confirm or stop the deletion. The lowercase “i” is responsible for that, and it means “interactive”. As a result, you’re asked to confirm the deletion with “y” or “n”. By doing this, you have an extra layer of safety because you have to provide explicit confirmation before deleting each item. Now, the following is how to use it on the “parent_directory” or a directory of your choice.

Running the command results in the following interactive session, and the “parent_directory” is the last to get deleted. In the session, we respond with “Y” at each prompt, and this tells the command to proceed with the deletion.

– Use “Rm” and Uppercase “I” To Remove the Directory

Using the rm command with uppercase “I” and “r” is a variation of “rm -ir”, but it will ask you to confirm the entire deletion just once. This means you won’t get multiple prompts before it deletes the directory and its entire content. The following is how to use it, and you can replace “parent_directory” with the directory that you’d like to delete.

When you run the command above, you’ll see the following prompt and if you respond with “y” or “Y”, it will process with the deletion. So, be certain that it’s a directory that you want to delete because there is no going back (unless you have a backup).

rm: remove 1 argument recursively?

– Pass Multiple Non-empty Directories to the “Rm” Command

The “rm” command can also delete multiple directories at once, but you have to ensure that you pass the recursive “-r” flag.

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That means the following command will not work as expected:

– Remove Directory With the Force Delete Option (No Prompts)

The “rm -rf” command is a blunt way to delete a non-empty directory because it will not ask you for any confirmation, and it’s what you need for “linux remove directory not empty without prompt “. It’s one of the “dangerous” commands on our list, and you’ve seen a variation of it in the form of “rm -vrf”. To use the command, replace “parent_directory” in the following and be certain of the deletion:

Now, the above command might not work, leading to “rm -rf not working” troubleshooting issues. If this applies to you, ensure that you have the right permissions on the directory and try again.

– Combine “Del” and “Rmdir” on Windows Command Prompt

A solution to the “cannot remove directory not empty Windows 10” error is to combine the “del” and “rmdir” commands. In this situation, you can use the “del” command and optional command switches to delete the contents of the directory before deleting the parent directory with “rmdir”.

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Now, if you’re on Windows, you can delete the files in a “non-empty” directory by running the following on the command prompt:

del /f /s /q path/to/directory

The following is a breakdown of the command:

• “del”: This is the command used to delete files in Windows. The name “del” is short for “delete.”
• “/f”: This is an optional switch that stands for “force.” When used with del, it forces the deletion of read-only files without prompting for confirmation.
• “/s”: When used with del, it tells the command to delete files from the specified directory and its subdirectories recursively.
• “/q”: This will suppress the display of deletion messages.
• “/path/to/directory”: This is the directory that you want to delete.

Now, if you type and run the command on the “parent_directory”, you’ll get a similar output like the following:

– Confirm the Directory Before Removing It With “Rd”

To solve the “rmdir non empty directory Windows” error, you can confirm it exists before removing it with the “rd” command. To do the “confirmation”, use the “if exist” statement and then use “rd /s /q” to delete the directory. Using our “parent_directory” folder as an example, we can delete it as such:

if exist parent_directory rd /s /q parent_directory

In the command above, “if exist” is a conditional statement that checks whether a file or directory exists at the specified location. Here, we pass it the “parent_directory” because we’re in the directory before running the command. But if you’re not, pass the full path of the directory that you want to remove, so your command could be the following:

if exist c:\Users\User_Name\folder_to_delete rd /s /q c:\Users\User_Name\folder_to_delete

Conclusion

This article explained why “rmdir” cannot remove a “non-empty” directory, and we discussed seven solutions that you can use on Windows and Linux. It might be a lot to take in, but the following summary should encourage you to read the article again:

• The “rmdir” cannot remove a “non-empty” directory because it’s designed to remove empty directories only.
• You can use the “rm” command and various arguments like “-ir”, “-Ir”, and “-vfr” to remove a directory that’s not empty.
• On Windows, you can delete a non-empty directory using “if exist path/to/directory rd /s /q path/to/directory”.

We had fun researching and writing this article, and we hope you felt the same while reading it. Now that you know how to delete a “non-empty” directory, let the knowledge go forth, and don’t stop it.

A non-empty directory refers to a folder that contains one or more files or subfolders. You may need to delete a non-empty directory for various reasons, such as:

• Freeing up disk space by removing old or unnecessary folders.
• Consolidating folders during a file system cleanup or organization.
• Removing folders that contain corrupted, duplicated, or problematic files.
• Deleting folders of unneeded programs after uninstalling them.
• Cleaning up after a malware or ransomware attack that scattered files in random folders.

Deleting a non-empty directory requires using particular commands since the default delete functions of Windows won’t remove populated folders. This guide will explain how to delete non-empty directories from the Windows command prompt using the del command.

Prerequisites

Before attempting to delete a non-empty directory in Windows Command Prompt, you’ll need:

• Access to the Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe). This comes built-in with all versions of Windows, so no additional software is required. Simply search for “Command Prompt” or “cmd” in the Windows start menu.
• Administrator privileges if you want to delete protected system folders. Regular users are restricted from deleting certain folders.

That’s it for prerequisites. As long as you have access to the Command Prompt and proper user permissions, you’re ready to delete non-empty folders.

For a quick introduction to basic Windows Command Prompt usage, check out this tutorial: Windows CMD basics and Commands By Example.

Using the del Command

The del command in Windows is used to delete one or more files and directories. The basic syntax is:

del [options] [file/folder]

For example, to delete a file called test.txt you would run:

del test.txt

The del command deletes files and folders permanently, bypassing the Recycle Bin. Files deleted with the del command cannot be recovered with normal undelete tools.¹

Common options for the del command include:

• /s – Deletes all files and subfolders in the specified directory.
• /q – Quiet mode, does not prompt for confirmation before deleting.
• /f – Force deletion of read-only files.

For example, to recursively delete the folder MyFolder and all its contents quietly:

del /s /q MyFolder

The del command is a powerful and permanent way to delete files and folders in Windows.

Delete a Folder and Contents

To delete a folder and all of its contents including subfolders and files, you can use the rmdir /S /Q foldername command in CMD. This will remove the specified folder and everything inside it without prompting for confirmation.

For example, to delete a folder called ‘demos’ and all its contents:

rmdir /S /Q demos

The /S switch tells rmdir to delete the folder tree recursively, meaning it will delete all subfolders and files within the main folder. The /Q switch suppresses prompts to confirm deletion of folders.

Without the /S, rmdir will not delete a folder that contains other files or subfolders and will display “The directory is not empty” error. The /Q switch skips the “Are you sure (Y/N)?” prompt and deletes the folder right away.

So using rmdir /S /Q ensures the entire folder contents are deleted without requiring any additional confirmation from the user.

As per Microsoft’s rmdir documentation, this command deletes the specified folder and all subfolders/files inside it from the current directory.

Confirm Deletion

By default, the del command will prompt you to confirm deletion of files or folders. When you attempt to delete a file or folder, you will see a prompt like:

This gives you a chance to confirm that you want to permanently delete the specified file or folder. If you type “Y” and hit Enter, the deletion will proceed. Typing “N” will cancel the deletion.

To skip this confirmation prompt and force deletion, you can use the /Q switch with the del command. For example:

C:\Users\Name> del /Q foldername

This will delete the folder without asking for confirmation. Be careful when using /Q as you will not have a chance to cancel the deletion.

Delete Read-Only Files

If you need to delete a read-only file in Windows, you can use the del command with the /f option. The /f option will force the deletion of read-only files. For example:

del /f filename.txt

This will forcibly delete the read-only file filename.txt. The /f parameter overrides the read-only attribute and deletes the file (Source).

You can also delete read-only files recursively. To do this, you need to first remove the read-only attribute recursively, and then delete the files. You can remove the read-only attribute recursively with the attrib command like this:

attrib -r /s /d

This will recursively remove the read-only attribute from all files and folders. After running this, you can then recursively delete the files and folders (Source).

Delete Hidden Files

To delete hidden files using the Windows command line, you can use the del command with the /a option. The /a option shows hidden and system files that would not normally be shown. Here is the basic syntax:

del /a [path]filename

For example, to delete a hidden file called hidden.txt in the current directory, you would type:

del /a hidden.txt

You can also delete all hidden files in a directory by specifying just the path without a filename:

del /a C:\myfolder\\*

This will delete all hidden files in the C:\myfolder directory. The asterisk wildcard character allows deletion of multiple files. Be very careful when using the /a option to avoid accidentally deleting important system files. It’s best to specifically target just the intended hidden files if possible.

For more information, see this guide on using del to delete hidden files: How to Delete Hidden Files

Alternative Methods

There are a few other options besides the DEL command for deleting folders in Windows CMD:

RMDIR

The RMDIR (remove directory) command can also be used to delete empty folders. The syntax is similar to DEL:

rmdir /s /q foldername

However, RMDIR cannot delete folders that contain files or subfolders. You would need to delete the contents first before removing the parent folder with RMDIR. [1]

RD

RD (remove directory) is just a shortened version of the RMDIR command. It functions the same way.

PowerShell

In PowerShell, you can use the Remove-Item cmdlet to delete folders. For example:

Remove-Item -Path foldername -Recurse -Force

This will recursively delete the folder and all its contents. PowerShell gives you more flexibility in deleting folders compared to the standard CMD commands.

[1] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/186737/whats-the-fastest-way-to-delete-a-large-folder-in-windows

Recovery Options

If you accidentally delete a folder in Windows and need to restore it, there are a few recovery options you can try:

First, check the Recycle Bin – sometimes deleted folders get moved here instead of being permanently deleted. Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and select ‘Open’ to look inside.

You can also try using recovery software like Recuva ¹ or Disk Drill ² to scan your hard drive and restore deleted files and folders. These tools may be able to recover data even if it’s been permanently deleted.

Finally, if you have a backup like File History enabled, you may be able to restore a previous version of the folder there. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup and click on ‘More options’ to view and restore from your backups.

With the right tools and backup system, you have a good chance of being able to recover accidentally deleted folders in Windows. Act quickly if you need to restore a folder, and avoid writing new data to the drive in the meantime.

Conclusion

In summary, deleting a non-empty directory in Windows command prompt requires using the ‘del’ command with the ‘/s’ and ‘/q’ switches. This recursively deletes the specified folder and all its contents without prompting for confirmation. Be very careful when running this command as the files will be permanently deleted without going to the Recycle Bin.

To recap, first navigate to the parent directory of the folder you want to delete. Then run ‘del foldername /s /q’ to remove that folder and everything inside it. Make sure you have backups of anything important as this action cannot be undone.

Alternative methods like using PowerShell or the ‘rmdir’ command with ‘/s’ were also covered. And recovery options via data recovery software were mentioned in case files were accidentally deleted. Overall, the del command with proper switches provides a quick way to delete a directory and contents in Windows CMD.

Are you struggling to remove unwanted directories from your Mac computer using
the Rmdir command? You aren’t alone, as many Mac users find it a daunting task
to efficiently delete them. The rmdir command removes the directory on Mac,
but if you don’t use it correctly, it’ll give an error like rmdir directory
not empty.

Part 1: Recover Lost Data Caused by Rmdir Directory not Empty

Like many other users, if you accidentally chose the wrong directory in the
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Tip

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Do you want to delete a directory from Windows command prompt(CMD)? This post explains how to use the command rmdir to delete folders and their contents. You can also find examples for each use case of folder deletion – empty folders, non empty folders, folders with white spaced names etc.

Delete folder from CMD

Run the command rmdir on the folder.

rmdir directoryname

Example:

C:>rmdir emptydir
C:>

How to delete a non empty folder

The simple rmdir does not work for folders having some content.

C:>rmdir nonemptydir
The directory is not empty.

Use /s option to delete the folder contents along with the folder. This deletes all subfolders recursively.

C:>rmdir /S nonemptydir
nonemptydir, Are you sure (Y/N)? y 
C:>

Force delete a folder without confirmation

To  force delete directory, without being asked for confirmation, we can use /Q switch.

rmdir /Q /S nonemptydir

We can also use ‘rd’ in place of ‘rmdir‘. Both names refer to the same command. This command works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7 and 10.

Deleting directory with white spaces in the name

Rmdir can delete files with whitespaces in the name, you just need to wrap up the folder name in double quotes as shown in the below example.

rmdir /Q /S "folder with spaces in the name"

Delete contents of a directory but keep the directory

The usecase here is to delete all the contents of the directory but keep the parent directory so that we do not need to create it again. rmdir /Q /S does not work here as it deletes the parent directory too. Rather the below commands should do the trick.

forfiles /P directory_path /M * /C "cmd /c if @isdir==FALSE del @file"
forfiles /P directory_path /M * /C "cmd /c if @isdir==TRUE rmdir /S /Q @file"

This works in 2 steps – the first command deletes all files, whereas the second one deletes all subdirectories.

Errors

To delete a directory, you should have appropriate access permissions on the directory. Otherwise rmdir throws ‘Access denied’ error.