Rob van der Woude's Scripting Pages

VBScript Scripting Techniques > Folders > Delete Folders

Delete Folders

including subfolders

This script deletes folders, empty or not, all in one go, like DOS' DELTREE command does.

 

DelTree
VBScript Code:
Option Explicit

Dim objFSO, objTempFolder, strTempFolder

Const TEMP_FOLDER = 2

Set objFSO        = CreateObject( "Scripting.FileSystemObject" )
Set objTempFolder = objFSO.GetSpecialFolder( TEMP_FOLDER )
strTempFolder     = objTempFolder.Path

DelTree strTempFolder, True


Sub DelTree( myFolder, blnKeepRoot )
' With this subroutine you can delete folders and their content,
' including subfolders.
' You can specify if you only want to empty the folder, and thus
' keep the folder itself, or to delete the folder itself as well.
' Root directories and some (not all) vital system folders are
' protected: if you try to delete them you'll get a message that
' deleting these folders is not allowed.
'
' Arguments:
' myFolder     [string]   the folder to be emptied or deleted
' blnKeepRoot  [boolean]  if True, the folder is emptied only,
'                         otherwise it will be deleted itself too
'
' Written by Rob van der Woude
' http://www.robvanderwoude.com
'
    Dim arrSpecialFolders(3)
    Dim objMyFSO, objMyFile, objMyFolder, objMyShell
    Dim objPrgFolder, objPrgFolderItem, objSubFolder, wshMyShell
    Dim strPath, strSpecialFolder

    Const WINDOWS_FOLDER =  0
    Const SYSTEM_FOLDER  =  1
    Const PROGRAM_FILES  = 38

    ' Use custom error handling
    On Error Resume Next

    ' List the paths of system folders that should NOT be deleted
    Set wshMyShell       = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
    Set objMyFSO         = CreateObject( "Scripting.FileSystemObject" )
    Set objMyShell       = CreateObject( "Shell.Application" )
    Set objPrgFolder     = objMyShell.Namespace( PROGRAM_FILES )
    Set objPrgFolderItem = objPrgFolder.Self

    arrSpecialFolders(0) = wshMyShell.SpecialFolders( "MyDocuments" )
    arrSpecialFolders(1) = objPrgFolderItem.Path
    arrSpecialFolders(2) = objMyFSO.GetSpecialFolder( SYSTEM_FOLDER  ).Path
    arrSpecialFolders(3) = objMyFSO.GetSpecialFolder( WINDOWS_FOLDER ).Path

    Set objPrgFolderItem = Nothing
    Set objPrgFolder     = Nothing
    Set objMyShell       = Nothing
    Set wshMyShell       = Nothing

    ' Check if a valid folder was specified
    If Not objMyFSO.FolderExists( myFolder ) Then
        WScript.Echo "Error: path not found (" & myFolder & ")"
        WScript.Quit 1
    End If
    Set objMyFolder = objMyFSO.GetFolder( myFolder )

    ' Protect vital system folders and root directories from being deleted
    For Each strSpecialFolder In arrSpecialFolders
        If UCase( strSpecialFolder ) = UCase( objMyFolder.Path ) Then
            WScript.Echo "Error: deleting """ _
                       & objMyFolder.Path & """ is not allowed"
            WScript.Quit 1
        End If
    Next

    ' Protect root directories from being deleted
    If Len( objMyFolder.Path ) < 4 Then
        WScript.Echo "Error: deleting root directories is not allowed"
        WScript.Quit 1
    End If

    ' First delete the files in the directory specified
    For Each objMyFile In objMyFolder.Files
        strPath = objMyFile.Path
        objMyFSO.DeleteFile strPath, True
        If Err Then
            WScript.Echo "Error # " & Err.Number & vbCrLf _
                       & Err.Description         & vbCrLf _
                       & "(" & strPath & ")"     & vbCrLf
        End If
    Next

    ' Next recurse through the subfolders
    For Each objSubFolder In objMyFolder.SubFolders
        DelTree objSubFolder, False
    Next

    ' Finally, remove the "root" directory unless it should be preserved
    If Not blnKeepRoot Then
        strPath = objMyFolder.Path
        objMyFSO.DeleteFolder strPath, True
        If Err Then
            WScript.Echo "Error # " & Err.Number & vbCrLf _
                       & Err.Description         & vbCrLf _
                       & "(" & strPath & ")"     & vbCrLf
        End If
    End If

    ' Cleaning up the mess
    On Error Goto 0
    Set objMyFolder = Nothing
    Set objMyFSO    = Nothing
End Sub
 
Requirements:
Windows version: any
Network: N/A
Client software: N/A
Script Engine: any
Summarized: Should work in any Windows version, with any scripting engine.
 
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page last modified: 2016-09-19; loaded in 0.0012 seconds