Windows XP in a Nutshell

Name

del or erase

Synopsis

Delete one or more files.

Syntax

del [/p] [/f] [/s] [/q] [/a:attributes] filename
erase [/p] [/f] [/s] [/q] [/a:attributes] filename
                  

Description

The del command is used to delete one or more files from the command line without sending them to the Recycle Bin.

The del options are:

filename

Specifies the file(s) to delete. If you do not specify the drive or path, the file is assumed to be in the current directory. You can use standard * and ? wildcards to specify the files to delete.

/p

Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.

/f

Forces deletion of read-only files.

/s

Delete specified files in all subdirectories (when using wildcards).

/q

Quiet mode; do not prompt if filename is *.*.

/a: attributes

Selects files to delete based on attributes (read-only, hidden, system, or archive). See Attrib in Chapter 4 for more information on attributes.

Examples

Delete the file myfile.txt in the current directory:

C:\>del myfile.txt

Delete the file myfile.txt in the c:\files directory:

C:\>del c:\files\myfile.txt

Delete all files with the pattern myfile.* (e.g., myfile.doc, myfile.txt, etc.) in the current directory, but prompt for each deletion:

C:\>del c:\files\myfile.* /p

Notes

• The del and erase commands are functionally identical.

• Using the del command to delete a file does not move it to the Recycle Bin. In other words, you can’t get a file back once you use the del command, unless you have a special “unerase” disk recovery utility.