How to Delete Large Folders Faster on Windows 10/11? (2024)

When you’re deleting a folder containing numerous files and a substantial size, it can take a considerable amount of time to completely remove the entire folder. Is it possible to delete large folders more quickly on a Windows computer? In this guide, MiniTool will introduce two methods.

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Can I Delete Large Folders Faster on Windows?

Deleting a folder containing numerous large files and subfolders in File Explorer can be time-consuming. That’s because Windows needs to run calculations, analyze, and show updates as files and folders get deleted. The whole process will last for a while.

However, is it possible to delete large folders more quickly?

Of course, you can do it using special methods. In this post, we will introduce two methods:

• Way 1: Use Command Prompt to make Windows delete large folders fast.
• Way 2: Add the fast way to the context menu.

Which is the fastest way to delete a large folder? You can just try.

Way 1: Use Command Prompt to Delete Large Folders Faster

You can use the del and rmdir commands to delete a large folder faster. Here is a guide:

1. Click the search icon on the taskbar and search for cmd.
2. Right-click Command Prompt from the search result and select Run as administrator from the context menu. This will run Command Prompt as administrator on Windows.
3. Copy the path of the folder you want to delete.
4. Type cd path into Command Prompt and press Enter to navigate to the folder that you want to delete. In this step, you need to replace path with the folder path you have copied. For example: cd F:\large folder.
5. Type del /f/q/s *.* > nul and press Enter.
6. Type cd.. and press Enter to go back to one level in the folder path.
7. Type rmdir /q/s foldername and press Enter to delete the folder and all its subfolders.

Way 2: Add the Fastest Way to the Context Menu

You can also create a script and modify the related registry key to add a new entry to the right-click context menu to delete large folders faster.

You can use these steps to do this job:

1. Create an empty txt file and open it.

2. Copy and paste the following content to Notepad:

@ECHO OFF

ECHO Delete Folder: %CD%?

PAUSE

SET FOLDER=%CD%

CD /

DEL /F/Q/S “%FOLDER%” > NUL

RMDIR /Q/S “%FOLDER%”

EXIT

3. Go to File > Save.

4. Change the file’s name to quick_delete and change the extension to .bat.

5. Go to C:\Windows, then cut and paste the quick_delete file to this location.

6. Press Windows + R to open Run, then type regedit into the Run box and press Enter to open Registry Editor.

7. Go to this path: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\.

8. Right-click the Shell (folder) key, then go to New > Key.

9. Name the key Fast Delete and press Enter.

10. Right-click the newly created key (the Fast Delete key), then go to New > Key.

11. Name the new key Command.

12. Double-click the default String in Command on the right panel, then enter cmd /c “cd %1 && quick_delete.bat” into the box of Value data.

13. Press OK to save the change.

14. Close Registry Editor.

When you want to delete a large folder, you can right-click the target folder and then select Fast Delete from the context menu.

Command Prompt will pop up, asking you to press any key to continue. Just do it.

Bottom Line

These are the two methods to delete large folders faster on a Windows computer. You can select your preferred one to help you delete large folders more quickly. If you delete folders unexpectedly, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to rescue them.

If you encounter issues when using MiniTool data recovery software, you can contact [emailprotected] for help.