How can I recursively delete an entire directory with PowerShell 2.0?

I used:

rm -r folderToDelete

This works for me like a charm (I stole it from Ubuntu).

When deleting files recursively using a simple Remove-Item "folder" -Recurse I sometimes see an intermittent error : [folder] cannot be removed because it is not empty.

This answer attempts to prevent that error by individually deleting the files.

function Get-Tree($Path, $Include='*') {
    @(Get-Item $Path -Include $Include -Force) +
        (Get-ChildItem $Path -Recurse -Include $Include -Force) |
        Sort-Object pspath -Descending -unique
}

function Remove-Tree($Path, $Include='*') {
    Get-Tree $Path $Include | Remove-Item -force -recurse
}

Remove-Tree some_directory

An important detail is the sorting of all the items with pspath -Descending so that the leaves are deleted before the roots. The sorting is done on the pspath parameter since that has more chance of working for providers other than the file system. The -Include parameter is just a convenience if you want to filter the items to delete.

It's split into two functions since I find it useful to see what I'm about to delete by running

Get-Tree some_directory | Select-Object fullname

rm -r ./folder -Force

...worked for me

If you're committed to PowerShell, you can use this, as explained in the accepted answer:

rm -r -fo targetDirectory

But I've found it to be faster to use the Windows command prompt:

rmdir /s/q targetDirectory

In addition to being faster, another advantage to using the command prompt option is that it starts deleting files immediately (PowerShell does some enumeration first), so if something breaks while it's running, you've at least made some progress in deleting files.

Try this example. If the directory does not exist, no error is raised. You may need PowerShell v3.0.

remove-item -path "c:\Test Temp\Test Folder" -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Use the old school DOS command rd:

rd /s <directory>

To avoid the "The directory is not empty" errors of the accepted answer, simply use the good old DOS command as suggested before. The full PowerShell syntax ready for copy-pasting is:

& cmd.exe /c rd /S /Q $folderToDelete

For some reason, John Rees' answer sometimes did not work in my case. But it led me in the following direction.

First I try to delete the directory recursively with the buggy -recurse option. Afterwards, I descend into every subdirectory that's left and delete all files.

function Remove-Tree($Path)
{
    Remove-Item $Path -force -Recurse -ErrorAction silentlycontinue

    if (Test-Path "$Path\" -ErrorAction silentlycontinue)
    {
        $folders = Get-ChildItem -Path $Path –Directory -Force
        ForEach ($folder in $folders)
        {
            Remove-Tree $folder.FullName
        }

        $files = Get-ChildItem -Path $Path -File -Force

        ForEach ($file in $files)
        {
            Remove-Item $file.FullName -force
        }

        if (Test-Path "$Path\" -ErrorAction silentlycontinue)
        {
            Remove-Item $Path -force
        }
    }
}

Use:

del <directory> -Recurse -Force # I prefer this, short and sweet

Or:

Remove-Item <directory> -Recurse -Force

If you have a huge directory then I usually do:

while (dir | Where-Object name -match <directory>) {Write-Host Deleting; sleep -s 3}

Run this in another PowerShell terminal, and it will stop when it is done.

Deleting an entire folder tree sometimes works and sometimes fails with "Directory not empty" errors. Subsequently attempting to check if the folder still exists can result in "Access Denied" or "Unauthorized Access" errors. I do not know why this happens, though some insight may be gained from this Stack Overflow posting.

I have been able to get around these issues by specifying the order in which items within the folder are deleted, and by adding delays. The following runs well for me:

# First remove any files in the folder tree
Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force | Where-Object { -not ($_.psiscontainer) } | Remove-Item –Force

# Then remove any sub-folders (deepest ones first).    The -Recurse switch may be needed despite the deepest items being deleted first.
ForEach ($Subfolder in Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force | Select-Object FullName, @{Name="Depth";Expression={($_.FullName -split "\\").Count}} | Sort-Object -Property @{Expression="Depth";Descending=$true}) { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $Subfolder.FullName -Recurse -Force }

# Then remove the folder itself.  The -Recurse switch is sometimes needed despite the previous statements.
Remove-Item -LiteralPath $FolderToDelete -Recurse -Force

# Finally, give Windows some time to finish deleting the folder (try not to hurl)
Start-Sleep -Seconds 4

A Microsoft TechNet article, Using Calculated Properties, in PowerShell was helpful to me in getting a list of subfolders sorted by depth.

Similar reliability issues with RD /S /Q can be solved by running DEL /F /S /Q prior to RD /S /Q and running the RD a second time if necessary - ideally with a pause in between (i.e., using ping as shown below).

DEL /F /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete\*.*" > nul
RD /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete" > nul
if exist "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete"  ping -4 -n 4 127.0.0.1 > nul
if exist "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete"  RD /S /Q "C:\Some\Folder\to\Delete" > nul

There seems to be issues where Remove-Item -Force -Recurse can intermittently fail on Windows because the underlying file system is asynchronous. This answer seems to address it. The user has also been actively involved with the PowerShell team on GitHub.

Add a custom function in your PowerShell $profile:

function rmrf([string]$Path) {
    try {
        Remove-Item -Recurse -ErrorAction:Stop $Path
    } catch [System.Management.Automation.ItemNotFoundException] {
        # Ignore
        $Error.Clear()
    }
}

This is the most accurate representation of rm -rf behavior.

While rm -r yields good results, the following method is faster:

$fso = New-Object -ComObject scripting.filesystemobject
$fso.DeleteFolder("D:\folder_to_remove")

To test this, you can easily create a folder with X files (I used: Disk Tools to quickly generate the files).

And then run each of the variants using:

Measure-Command {rm D:\FOLDER_TO_DELETE -r}
Measure-Command {Remove-Item -Path D:\FOLDER_TO_DELETE -Recurse -Force}
Measure-Command {rd -r FOLDER_TO_DELETE }
$fso.DeleteFolder("D:\folder_to_remove")
Measure-Command {$fso.DeleteFolder("D:\FOLDER_TO_DELETE")}

The results on my test folder were:

Remove-Item - TotalMilliseconds : 1438.708
rm - TotalMilliseconds : 1268.8473
rd - TotalMilliseconds : 739.5385
FSO - TotalMilliseconds : 676.8091

The results vary but on my system the winner was the fileSystemObject. I recommend testing this on the target file system to see which method is the best for you.

Another useful trick:

If you find a lot of files with same or similar name convention (like a Mac file with dot prefix name... that famous file pollution), you can easily remove them with one single line from a PowerShell window like this:

ls -r .* | rm

This line is going to remove all files with a dot in the beginning of the name inside the current directory, and all files with same circumstances inside other folders inside this directory too. Be aware about it when using it. :D

I took another approach inspired by John Rees, especially when his approach started to fail for me at some point. Basically, recurse the subtree, and sort files by their path-length, and delete from longest to the shortest:

Get-ChildItem $tfsLocalPath -Recurse |  # Find all children
    Select-Object FullName,@{Name='PathLength';Expression={($_.FullName.Length)}} |  # Calculate the length of their path
    Sort-Object PathLength -Descending | # Sort by path length descending
    %{ Get-Item -LiteralPath $_.FullName } |
    Remove-Item -Force

Regarding the -LiteralPath magic, here's another gotcha that may be hitting you: PowerShell bug in copy/move/rename when filename contains [square bracket characters]

To delete the complete contents, including the folder structure, use:

Get-ChildItem $dest -recurse | ForEach-Object ($_) {Remove-Item $_.fullname -recurse}

The -recurse added to Remove-Item ensures interactive prompts are disabled.

Really simple:

remove-item -path <type in file or directory name>, press Enter

This is based on @John Rees's answer with some improvements.

Initial files tree . /f

C:\USERS\MEGAM\ONEDRIVE\ESCRITORIO\PWSHCFX
│   X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
│   z
│   Z-Config.json
│   Z-CoreFxs.ps1
│
├───HappyBirthday Unicorn
│       collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip
│       hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip
│       hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip
│       hontana.zip
│       Unicorn - Original.pdf
│       Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png
│       Unicorn.pdf
│       Unicorn.png
│       Unicorn2.pdf
│       Unicorn3.pdf
│       Unicorn4.pdf
│       Unicorn5.pdf
│       UnicornMLP.pdf
│
├───x
└───y

Code

function Get-ItemTree() {
    param (
        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Path = ".",

        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Include = "*",

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $IncludePath,

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $Force

    )
    $result = @()
    if (!(Test-Path $Path)) {
        throw "Invalid path. The path `"$Path`" doesn't exist." #Test if path is valid.
    }
    if (Test-Path $Path -PathType Container)
    {
        $result += (Get-ChildItem "$Path" -Include "$Include" -Force:$Force -Recurse) # Add all items inside of a container, if path is a container.
    }
    if($IncludePath.IsPresent)
    {
        $result += @(Get-Item $Path -Force) # Add the $Path in the result.
    }
    $result = ,@($result | Sort-Object -Descending -Unique -Property "PSPath") # Sort elements by PSPath property, order in descending, remove duplicates with unique.
    return  $result
}

function Remove-ItemTree {
    param (
        [Parameter()]
        [System.String]
        $Path,

        [Parameter()]
        [switch]
        $ForceDebug
    )
    (Get-ItemTree -Path $Path -Force -IncludePath) | ForEach-Object{
        Remove-Item "$($_.PSPath)" -Force
        if($PSBoundParameters.Debug.IsPresent)
        {
            Write-Debug -Message "Deleted: $($_.PSPath)" -Debug:$ForceDebug
        }
    }
}

Write-Host "███ Test 1"
$a = Get-ItemTree "./Z-Config.json" -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$true # Tree of a file path. 1 element the file (IncludePath parameter = $true)
$a | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 2"
$b = Get-ItemTree "./Z-Config.json" -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$false # Tree of a file path. No Result (IncludePath parameter = $false)
$b | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 3"
$c = Get-ItemTree "." -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$true # Tree of a container path. All elements of tree and the container included (IncludePath parameter = $true).
$c | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Write-Host "███ Test 4"
$d = Get-ItemTree "." -Force -Include "*" -IncludePath:$false # All elements of tree, except the container (IncludePath parameter = $false).
$d | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PSPath | ConvertTo-Json
Write-Host

Remove-ItemTree -Path "./HappyBirthday Unicorn" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./x" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./y" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove the contents of container and remove the container. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.
Remove-ItemTree -Path "./z" -Debug -ForceDebug #Remove file. -Debug Prints debug messages and -ForceDebug forces to prints messages if DebugPreference is SilentlyContinue.

Get-ChildItem -Force

Output

███ Test 1
"Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json"

███ Test 2

███ Test 3
[
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-CoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\z",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\y",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\x",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\UnicornMLP.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn5.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn4.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn3.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn2.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn - Original.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hontana.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx"
]

███ Test 4
[
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-CoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\Z-Config.json",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\z",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\y",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\x",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\UnicornMLP.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn5.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn4.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn3.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn2.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\Unicorn - Original.pdf",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hontana.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn\\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip",
  "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\\FileSystem::C:\\Users\\Megam\\OneDrive\\Escritorio\\pwshcfx\\HappyBirthday Unicorn"
]

DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\UnicornMLP.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn5.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn4.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn3.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn2.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn.png
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn-free-printable-cake-toppers.png
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\Unicorn - Original.pdf
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hontana.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hand-drawn-unicorn-birthday-invitation-template (2).zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\hand-drawing-rainbow-design.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn\collection-of-unicorns-and-hearts-with-rainbows.zip
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\HappyBirthday Unicorn
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\x
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\y
DEBUG: Deleted: Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx\z


    Directory: C:\Users\Megam\OneDrive\Escritorio\pwshcfx

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
la---           17/5/2021     1:57            272 X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
la---           14/5/2021    18:51            252 Z-Config.json
la---           17/5/2021     4:04          30931 Z-CoreFxs.ps1

tree . /f

C:\USERS\MEGAM\ONEDRIVE\ESCRITORIO\PWSHCFX
    X-Update-PowerShellCoreFxs.ps1
    Z-Config.json
    Z-CoreFxs.ps1

No subfolders exist

Please try the below PowerShell script. This script will skip to the next file/folder if got stuck with some error like "Remove-Item : The tag present in the reparse point buffer is invalid."

# Get a list of all the folders to be deleted
$foldersToDelete = Get-ChildItem -Directory -Path "C:\Path\To\Folders"

# Delete each folder recursively, skipping to the next file if stuck with an error
foreach ($folder in $foldersToDelete) {
    try {
        Remove-Item -Path $folder.FullName -Recurse -Force
    } catch {
        Write-Host "Failed to delete folder '$folder.FullName': $_"
        continue
    }
}

Use a combination of Robocopy and rmdir:

# Create an empty folder to use as the source
$emptyDir = "C:\empty"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $emptyDir

# Replace the contents of the target folder with the empty folder (effectively deleting all contents)
robocopy $emptyDir "C:\Path\To\Your\Folder" /mir

# Remove the now-empty folder
Remove-Item "C:\Path\To\Your\Folder" -Recurse -Force

# Remove the temporary empty directory created
Remove-Item $emptyDir -Force

Use:

$users = Get-ChildItem \\ServerName\c$\users\ | select -ExpandProperty name

foreach ($user in $users)
{
    Remove-Item -path "\\Servername\c$\Users\$user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office365\PowerShell\*" -Force -Recurse
    Write-Warning "$user Cleaned"
}

I wrote the above to clean some logfiles without deleting the parent directory, and this works perfectly!