DEL OR ERASE

Deletes specified files.

Use

Navigate to the folder that contains the file, and type “DEL” or “ERASE” followed by the filename and by any desired switches. You can also enter the entire path at the prompt rather than navigating to the folder. Multiple filenames can be entered separated by spaces, commas, or semicolons, or wildcards can be used. If only a folder name is entered, DEL or ERASE will delete only the files in the root of the folder. Subfolders and files within subfolders will not be affected unless the /s switch is used.

Switches

/f: Normally, files with the read-only attribute will not be deleted. /f overrides this and forces deletion.

/p: Prompts you to confirm that you want the file to be deleted.

/q: Prevents Windows from prompting you to confirm that you want the file to be deleted.

/s: Deletes specified files from the current folder and all subfolders. Displays each filename as the file is deleted.

Note

Once you delete a file using the DEL or ERASE command, that file does not appear in the Recycle Bin and is considered irretrievable without some third-party recovery program.