How can I delete files with PowerShell without confirmation?

Question

I am trying to get the below PowerShell script to work using Task Scheduler. The problem is that it wont delete any files.

When I run it manually it needs a confirmation before deleting files.

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"):

How can I edit this script to delete files without any confirmation so I can run it using Task Scheduler?

#----- define parameters -----#
#----- get current date ----#
$Now = Get-Date
#----- define amount of days ----#
$Days = "10"
#----- define folder where files are located ----#
$TargetFolder = "D:\Shares\Downloads\TV\AutoDL"
#----- define extension ----#
$Extension = "*.*"
#----- define LastWriteTime parameter based on $Days ---#
$LastWrite = $Now.AddDays(-$Days)

#----- get files based on lastwrite filter and specified folder ---#
$Files = Get-Childitem $TargetFolder -Include $Extension -Recurse | Where {$_.LastWriteTime -le "$LastWrite"}

foreach ($File in $Files) 
{
    if ($File -ne $NULL)
    {
        write-host "Deleting File $File" -ForegroundColor "DarkRed"
        Remove-Item $File.FullName | out-null
    }
    else
    {
        Write-Host "No more files to delete!" -foregroundcolor "Green"
    }
}

Powershell be like, false needs a $ except when it don't.

Warren P
– Warren P

2021-05-14 17:42:49 +00:00
Commented May 14, 2021 at 17:42 — Warren P
– Warren P, Commented May 14, 2021 at 17:42

double-beep · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-30 09:46:14Z

70

Remove-Item foldertodelete -Recurse -Force -Confirm:$false

works for me.

edited Apr 30, 2019 at 9:46

double-beep

5,66019 gold badges43 silver badges50 bronze badges

answered Apr 30, 2019 at 9:44

user11431789

7095 silver badges2 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

Adam Cox Over a year ago

A gotcha... I believe the item/object is a folder/directory, that also contains files, then not including -Recurse while including -Confirm:$false will result in a confirmation. Take a closer look at the confirmation as it begins like The item at <some-folder-pathname> has children and the Recurse parameter was not specified. something about the missing -Recurse switch.

Warren P Over a year ago

Why is it -confirm:$false here? When I test: try { Remove-Item .\bin -Confirm:False } catch{ } Does not confirm. try { Remove-Item .\bin -Confirm:$false } catch{ } does confirm. Powershell sure be shifty and weird.

Valerij Dobler Over a year ago

@Warren P When you omit the $ PS throws a ParameterBindingException, which you catch in you line of code. And sure, if it throws, it doesn't ask for confirmation...

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

-Confrim:$false is misleading,... the default is false, the problem is not the -Confirm it is the -Recurse (only the -Recurse)

woter324 · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-23 19:23:57Z

22

In my opinion Remove-Item -Path "C:\Temp\FolderToDelete" -Confirm:$false -Force should just work without any prompt. But it doesn't.

To delete the whole folder and everything in it without any prompt, I had to use GCI and go up a level. So instead of:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Temp\FolderToDelete" | Remove-Item -Recurse -Confirm:$false -Force

Which deletes everything inside FolderToDelete, but not the parent folder.

To delete the parent folder and everything in it without a prompt, I did:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Temp\" -Directory -Filter "FolderToDelete" | Remove-Item -Recurse -Confirm:$false -Force

Note the trailing '\' in -Path C:\Temp\.

HTH

edited Jul 23, 2019 at 19:23

answered Jul 20, 2017 at 9:16

woter324

3,2506 gold badges34 silver badges56 bronze badges

2 Comments

Dev Kumar Over a year ago

Agree with your -Recurse. For me Remove-Item was always asking the prompt cos I had * to end of path. Thanks.

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

Same as the other answers. the sentiment here is correct by using Get-ChildItem and piping it into Remove-Item but still... -Confrim:$false is misleading,... the default is false, the problem is not the -Confirm it is the -Recurse (only the -Recurse)

Mark Wragg · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-25 13:15:57Z

21

You need to add -Confirm:$false to the Remove-Item command to override the default confirmation behaviour. Failing that, try adding -Force.

answered Apr 25, 2017 at 13:15

Mark Wragg

23.6k7 gold badges48 silver badges77 bronze badges

3 Comments

Alex Kwitny Over a year ago

This doesn't work for me for some reason when there are folders present.

Warren P Over a year ago

Try this --> try { Remove-Item .\bin -Confirm:False } catch{ }

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

This answer is 100% wrong x2. it is neither the -Confirm swtich not the -Force switch... -Confrim:$false is misleading,... the default is false, the problem is not the -Confirm it is the -Recurse (only the -Recurse)

Roger Hoem-Martinsen · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-16 11:43:10Z

10

It says

Recurse parameter was not specified. If you continue, all children will be removed with the item. Are you sure you want to continue?

Try: Remove-Item ./folderToDelete -Force -Recurse

answered Apr 16, 2019 at 11:43

Roger Hoem-Martinsen

1191 silver badge3 bronze badges

3 Comments

Shanteshwar Inde Over a year ago

can you please elaborate this answer.

Roger Hoem-Martinsen Over a year ago

Yes. What I meant to say is that if the prompt says that you need to confirm since the recurse switch parameter is missing, you should add the recurse parameter.

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER!, ironically it is the answer where someone has asked for elaboration, when it tells exactly what the situation is. additionally suggesting the -Force switch too. Great no mention of the -Confirm switch, so perfect answer! UPVOTED!

B--rian · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-12 20:47:05Z

6

Delete a files folder\subfolders on D:\FOLDER (my example below), any files that older than 30 days.

Get-ChildItem -Path "D:\FOLDER\" -Recurse |? {($_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30))} | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -confirm:$false -Verbose

The -Force -Confirm:$false guarantees that you don't have to press Y or A every time it deletes a file or folder. The -Verbose displays what is being deleted.

edited Feb 12, 2020 at 20:47

B--rian

5,97611 gold badges50 silver badges101 bronze badges

answered Feb 12, 2020 at 20:15

Ryan Chau

691 silver badge1 bronze badge

2 Comments

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

Same as the other answers... -Confrim:$false is misleading,... the default is false, the problem is not the -Confirm it is the -Recurse (only the -Recurse) –

Cozzaro Nero Over a year ago

@TheArchitecta if the problem is the -Recurse, how would you suppress the confirmation prompt when using -recurse?

henrycarteruk · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-25 15:10:40Z

1

You can simplify your script like it:

Use -file with Get-Childitem command
Not necessary to have a $Now variable
Use alias for your where (better visibility)
Your if must be out for check if no files
Add -Force to your Remove-Item command
Extension are not necessary if you use '\*.*'

Code ratified:

$Days = "10"
#----- define folder where files are located ----#
$TargetFolder = "D:\Shares\Downloads\TV\AutoDL"
#----- define LastWriteTime parameter based on $Days ---#
$LastWrite = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$Days)

#----- get files based on lastwrite filter and specified folder ---#
$Files = Get-Childitem $TargetFolder -Recurse -file | Where LastWriteTime -le "$LastWrite"

if ($Files -eq $null)
{
    Write-Host "No more files to delete!" -foregroundcolor "Green"
}
else
{
   $Files | %{
   write-host "Deleting File $_" -ForegroundColor "DarkRed"
   Remove-Item $_.FullName -Force   | out-null
   }

}

edited Apr 25, 2017 at 15:10

henrycarteruk

13.3k2 gold badges40 silver badges40 bronze badges

answered Apr 25, 2017 at 13:56

Esperento57

17.6k6 gold badges42 silver badges47 bronze badges

2 Comments

ProphetSe7en Over a year ago

Thank you, I`ll give it a try. Will this also delete empty subfolders? My last script left all the empty subfolders behind.

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

Not simple and not correct! Same as the other answers... -Confirm:$false is misleading,... the default is false, the problem is not the -Confirm it is the -Recurse (only the -Recurse) – –

shadowz1337 · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-27 00:52:16Z

1

This worked for me:

Get-ChildItem -Path "FolderToDelete" -Directory -recurse | where {$_.LastWriteTime -le $(get-date).Adddays(-7)} | Remove-Item -recurse -force

answered Aug 27, 2019 at 0:52

shadowz1337

8991 gold badge12 silver badges28 bronze badges

1 Comment

TheArchitecta Over a year ago

UP Voted, even though it could be given more content. because it is more correct than the rest of the answers with high scores.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How can I delete files with PowerShell without confirmation?

7 Answers 7

4 Comments

2 Comments

3 Comments

3 Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

7 Answers 7

4 Comments

2 Comments

3 Comments

3 Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related