Cannot remove item. The directory is not empty
PowershellWindows Server-2012-R2Powershell Problem Overview
I am trying to delete a folder with subfolders/files.
Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -Path $directoryPath
I am getting the error Cannot remove item. The directory is not empty.
My PowershellScript.ps1 has executionPolicy unrestricted. The root folder I try to delete with the current logged in user has full permission on this folder.
On my local pc the code works but not on my Windows Server 2012 R2.
Powershell Solutions
Solution 1 - Powershell
You could try the following:
Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -Path "$directoryPath\*"
Note when using the -Recurse parameter with -Include in Remove-Item, it can be unreliable. So it's best to recurse the files first with Get-ChildItem and then pipe into Remove-Item. This may also help if you deleting large folder structures.
Get-ChildItem $directoryPath -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force
Solution 2 - Powershell
File is open in another program
I forgot that I had Visual Studio open with my project open and was getting this error.
Close any files associated with that directory, run PowerShell as admin, then run the command:
Remove-Item "C:\path\to\dir" -Recurse -Force
Pro Tip
You can also run this command to open file explorer:
ii "C:\path\to\dir"
If you right click and try to delete it, it might give you a more verbose error than command line.
Solution 3 - Powershell
Note that
Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -Path "C:\MyFolder"
Produces this error, but
Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -Path "C:\MyFolder\*"
Does not.
So don't forget the magic sauce
Solution 4 - Powershell
this worked for me where i deleted files and folders older then i year recursively including folders.
Get-ChildItem -Directory -Path X:\AutomateCache | where-Object {$_.Lastwritetime -ile (get-date).AddMonths(-12) } | Remove-Item -Force -Recurse -Verbose
Solution 5 - Powershell
This way works every time, it sorts the files and directories in descending order to ensure the deepest members of the directory structure are deleted first.
Get-ChildItem $output_path -File -Recurse | Sort-Object FullName -Descending | Remove-Item -Force -Confirm:$false;
Get-ChildItem $output_path -Directory -Recurse | Sort-Object FullName -Descending | Remove-Item -Force -Confirm:$false;
Remove-Item $output_path -Force;