You can run this whenever you feel that you need to clean up your download folder or you can use the Task Scheduler to run it daily, weekly, monthly, etc. For this example, we will tell the batch file to delete any files that are located in the download folder that are older than 30 days. The first step will be to open notepad. Once you have the program open, paste this string into the screen. Remember to change the directory to match your computer. You can also choose any directory that is on your computer for the target.
Once you have entered the string, save the document as a batch file. Simply run the file to make sure it works and you will see that any files in your download folder are automatically sent to your Recycle Bin if they are older than 30 days.
For the purpose of this example, we will schedule the automatic file deletion every seven days. You can give the task a name and description of your choosing. Now you will need to select a time and day. Remember to choose a time and day that your computer is powered on.
For this example, we will just choose midnight on Friday then click next. The last screen you will see gives you a comprehensive overview of the task you created.
Image Credit: Mixy Lorenzo on Flickr. Browse All iPhone Articles Delete the file from its original location. Navigate to the file or folder you want to delete. Right-click on the icon and select "Delete" from the pop-up menu, or left-click once on the icon and press the Del key on your keyboard. Open the "Recycle Bin.
Select the file and press Del. Navigate to the file or folder you just deleted. Left-click once and press Del on your keyboard. Alternatively, click "Empty the Recycle Bin. You can also delete the contents of your Recycle Bin without opening the program up. Note that when you use this method, it does not completely wipe the file from your hard disk. It does not wipe the file from your computer completely. To more permanently delete files from your hard disk, you'll want to pursue one of the subsequent methods and use specialized software.
Method 4. Find the file that you want to delete. Right-click on the file. Hold down the shift key, then delete the item normally. You can choose the "Delete" button, press the delete key, or right-click, then click on delete. Confirm that you want to permanently remove the file.
Once you delete it, it will be gone forever. Method 5. Download Eraser. Eraser is one of the most popular free secure deletion utilities.
Unlike the "permanent" deletion option available from the Windows Recycle Bin, this utility allows you to securely and completely delete files and folders so that they are no longer recoverable. Find the file you want to delete and right-click. Right-click on the icon to open a pop-up menu. Take a good look at your pop-up menu. It should resemble the menu you are used to seeing, but now that Eraser has been installed, you should also see an Eraser sub-menu above the "Open with" option of the menu.
Choose the "Erase" option from the "Eraser" sub-menu. Hover over the "Eraser" option on the original pop-up menu until another menu pops out to the side. From this menu, select "Erase" to permanently delete that file or folder. The erase task will be immediately executed. When done, a pop-up window will appear to let you know that the task has been completed and that your selected files have been securely and permanently erased.
You can also click on "Erase on Restart," which will not erase the file immediately but will do so the next time you restart your computer. Method 6. Install Sdelete. SDelete is a downloadable command line tool produced directly by Microsoft for use with the Windows command line. As with Eraser, it overwrites a file's on-disk data so thoroughly that the original data patterns become unrecoverable. It does not delete the file names located in free disk space, but it does delete all the associated file data securely and completely.
Open the Command Prompt. From your "Start" menu, access the "Run" option. Navigate to the SDelete tool. From within the Command Prompt, navigate to the directory in which the SDelete utility has been saved using the cd command. Indicate which file or directory should be deleted. Upon completion, you will receive confirmation within the Command Prompt that your data has been permanently deleted. At this point, you can close the prompt.
By clearing temp files from time to time, you can gain back a lot of C drive space. In a day to day operation Microsoft creates several temp files and stores them in various system folders. These temporary files are quite useful and allow the system to function efficiently and faster.
However, over time these temporary files can build up to an extent where they consume several GBs worth of space in your C drive. For instance, last time I scanned my system, Windows 10 is using over 11 GB to store temporary files. To do so, go to the Home tab and in the Environment section, click Preferences.
Then, choose from one of the two options in the Deleting files section. By default, the Delete permanently option is selected. On Mac platforms, the Deleting files preference is not applied to files deleted from network drives. All files are deleted permanently. If obj is an array, then delete deletes all objects in the array. Delete all files in the current folder with a. Thank You , Don Barajas…..
All I can suggest is subscribing using a different email address. Hi Leo, I was pleased to read your suggestion to save set-up files etc. Leo, was my choice to MOVE them to a flash drive a mistake? Cheers and Happy New Year. USB flash drive have a limited amount of writes before they start to fail.
My personal opinion of USB flash drives is that they are great for copying data from one computer to one computer or device to another.
Literally — Move is often implemented as a copy followed by a delete. Thank you for sharing this. I have always been curious about deleting downloads and you explained it very well in this article. Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.
I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read. Search Ask Leo! Can you safely delete set-up files of programs or updates you have downloaded from the internet? Since these were set-up or update files, I assume they were zipped, and that upon installation, the electronic carapace for lack of a better word became discardable?
Is this correct, or is the downloaded file necessary to the proper functioning of the file or update that has been downloaded like a Jack-in-the-Box that would stop being a Jack-in-the-Box if you removed the box?
Which types of downloaded set-up files or updates are safe to delete, and which must remain if any must remain? Do this Subscribe to Confident Computing! I'll see you there! Podcast audio.
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