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Emptying Recycle Bin in Windows is a pretty straightforward task. In this quick guide, I have explained two options to perform this task.
Option 1: Empty Recycle Bin via the Desktop
- Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on your Windows desktop and select “Empty Recycle Bin.” Windows will prompt for a confirmation.
- On the “Delete multiple items” confirmation pop-up, click Yes.
Option 2: Empty Recycle Bin with PowerShell
You can also use the Clear-RecycleBin PowerShell command to empty the Recycle Bin on a Windows computer.
- Open PowerShell as administrator.
- Then, to clear the Recycle Bin, run the command without any parameters.
Clear-RecycleBin
When you execute the command by pressing the Enter key on your keyboard, PowerShell will prompt you to confirm. Type Y and press Enter again.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems
If you want to avoid this prompt and force the command to proceed without prompting for confirmation, run the Clear-RecycleBin command with the Force parameter.
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Clear-RecycleBin -Force
Clear-RecycleBin -Confirm:$false
Finally, you can also empty the Recycle Bin for a specific drive. In this example command, I want to empty Drive C’s.
Clear-RecycleBin -DriveLetter CIndependent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.
Conclusion
Emptying the Recycle Bin on a Windows Computer is as simple as a few clicks. You can even do it by running a one-line PowerShell command!
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