Solved Empty Recycle bin from Batch file?

TM21 · Jan 8, 2023

I know that this may seem frivolous, but I'm dead serious.
Years ago, I wrote a batch file to clean up Windows XP, and it included cleaning out the Recycle Bin.
It's like a lifetime later and I'm trying to do the same thing with a batch file to clean up Win-11.
It runs exactly like I want it to, till I get down to the line to clean out the Recycle Bin.

I Googled the problem and found several so called solutions, except that none of them work.
So I'm looking for a Batch File master, that can help me overcome this problem.
The solution has to work from within the batch file, with no outside help.

PS: I have several programs including windows cleanup that can empty the Recycle bin, but I can save a lot of time if I can just do it from within my Cleanup batch file. Then I could also share my batch file with others.

Brink · Jan 8, 2023

Hello mate,

You might test option six below to see if the command in it may for work with your BAT file.

Empty Recycle Bin in Windows 10

How to Empty Recycle Bin in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Awalt · Jan 8, 2023

I am not the OP, but I just tried option #6 in a batch file and it works! Nice! Thanks!

Wynona · Jan 8, 2023

Awalt said:
I am not the OP, but I just tried option #6 in a batch file and it works! Nice! Thanks!

And I finally got my Recycle Bin icon back on my desktop! After trying to help someone who wanted to delete the RB icon! I figured out how to delete, but it wouldn't restore after deleting it.

idgat · Jan 8, 2023

NirSoft does an "emptybin" shortcut for the desktop, too

TM21 · Jan 8, 2023

Anyone can delete the contents of the Recycle Bin, manually, from the Desktop, and there are programs that can do it to.
But the problem was/is getting the Recycle Bin emptied from within a Batch File, that can be shared, circulated or even posted.

Thank you Shawn, the command you gave me worked!
I can only assume that it worked, because the "Power Shell" is active in Win-11. Without it, every attempt I made, failed.

But the bottom line is, that I now can finish off my Win11Clean.bat program, and move on to the next challenge.

Cheers Mates,
TM

Brink · Jan 8, 2023

TM21 · Jan 8, 2023

Addendum:

One little Trick I use in my batch file is, that I first count the number of files in C:, and then do the cleanup, then count the files again and post the difference, which is the number of files deleted.
That final count looks like this:

And, that's on my PC where I've been testing my Cleanup batch file, for days. It's staggering how fast garbage files can and DO build up on a typical HD.*
One last change, to make this a more universal Cleanup Batch file, in any line that has my actual name in it, I'll have to replace my name with %USERNAME%. Then, I can share this batch file with other Win-11 users.

* I tested this batch file on another one of my PC's running Win-11 and the final count of files deleted was over 3000.
That was a recent install with practically no use.

Thanks again for the Assistance.
TM

TM21 · Jan 9, 2023

One little problem I had to solve today, was that some of the lines in my Batch file would only work if run in Administrator Mode.
That was solved by putting the batch file in its own folder on the HD, and running it from a shortcut on the Desktop. The shortcut, of course, is set to "Run in Administrator Mode".
This evening, I ran the completed Batch File here on my computer where I've been testing it every day for the past several days, and the bottom line was "1186" files removed.
It would be a real Hoot, to run my little Cleanup Batch File on a Win-11 PC that's never had any maintenance at all.
The number of junk files removed could number into the hundreds of thousands.
I wrote a similar Cleanup batch file for Windows XP. It was a real success, and was a great help to me, when cleaning up Customer's PC's.

Cheers Mates!
TM

Cy_kkm · Jan 10, 2023

Windows 11 has this option, no 3rd party tools required. It's perhaps the simplest way to configure retention.

Press Win+I to open Options, search for Storage Sense
Optionally, check Keep Windows running smoothly etc. This will purge files in the %TEMP% directory.
Flip the rocker under Automatic User content cleanup to On.
Set Run Storage Sense to Every Day.
Select Delete files in my recycle bin [...] older than and choose your preference. I have 7 days, YMMV.
Delete files in my Download folder [...] older than is up to you, I don't.
If you're using OneDrive, you may also want to enable Content will become online-only after time. I have set it to 30 days, but this is entirely safe to remove locally cached OneDrive files ASAP. Your choice, again.

Under the hood, Windows activates the Storage Sense task to run on the specified schedule.

Another used space control option is automatic Store Apps archival. App data is retained, but the app itself is uninstalled, and automatically pulled from the Store when you attempt to use it.

In the Options app, search for Archive Apps
This lands you at the Apps > Advanced Apps Settings page. Select Archive Apps on the page.
Flip the only rocker on that page to On.

All of these settings are configurable with a GPO, and thus easy to transfer to other standalone machines even outside of the domain environment, if you have a Professional ed. It's not in the Home ed., tho.

TM21 · Jan 10, 2023

Thank you, for that information.

Awalt · Jan 10, 2023

Cy_kkm said:
Select Delete files in my recycle bin [...] older than and choose your preference. I have 7 days, YMMV.

This whole procedure was immensely useful, thank you @Cy_kkm - I didn't know it existed! One thing I noticed - deleting files in Recycle and Downloads did not have a 7 day option, does yours actually? I would prefer 7 days, 1 day is too quick and I run some tasks that dump a lot of files into Recycle so 14 days is a little long but ok for me. 7 days would be perfect!

Cy_kkm · Jan 10, 2023

Awalt said:
One thing I noticed - deleting files in Recycle and Downloads did not have a 7 day option, does yours actually? I would prefer 7 days, 1 day is too quick and I run some tasks that dump a lot of files into Recycle so 14 days is a little long but ok for me. 7 days would be perfect!

I'm applying these options using a GPO, so I can apply the subset of common settings that I always use use to every machine. You just set the number of days there. The caveat is, GPO is unavailable in the Home edition. It might still be settable directly in the registry—this is what the Group Policy Object does when applied. Google for the exact policy name, some tables list the registry keys (whether the Home Ed. pays any attention to these settings, I dunno but vaguely remember it does).

If you apply a GPO, the controls on the corresponding page in Options will be greyed out, and there will be a message “some settings are managed by your organization”—the GPO is a domain thing, this is how admins apply settings to all computers in a domain. Just don't be startled by this.

This template is under Computer/Administrative Templates/System/Storage Sense (the path is not on the screenshot).

ADDED: There ya go!

TM21 · Jan 10, 2023

What I did was so easy, and now I see it getting complicated!

I have to keep everything simple and easy, because I have 12 PC's of my own and I also service a database of around 100 customers. All with different PC's, OS's and wants and needs. And some of those won't do a danged thing for themselves, so I have to do it for them.
But every PC, from XP to 11 generate tons of garbage that needs to be taken out on a regular basis.

Ergo my original XPCleanup.bat file. If I could count on the owner/operator to run it at least once a week, I'd just leave it on their desktop.
But if I was pretty sure it would NEVER be run, I'd just put it in their Startup Folder, so it would run silently in the background every time they booted up their PC. I also SILENTLY ran a little script to force the creation of a new Restore Point, with every boot up.
Getting some people to do what's necessary to maintain their PC, is like herding cats! :lmao:

I've run my Cleanup.bat program twice over the past two days, here on my own PC and the first time it removed 1186 files, and the second time it removed 1726 files. One thing my little old PC can do really FAST, is collect garbage. And that's about all she can do fast, with only a 2-Core Athlon cpu, 3.75GB of usable ram, and a 500GB SSD. She's so old, I have to crank her, to get her started! :lmao:

OnScoobySnacks · Jan 11, 2023

I know you asked for a bat file but I use this .reg file from the context menu. It has (2) choices to empty the trash:
1) With Confirmation
2) Without Confirmation

Below is the code:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\empty]
"CommandStateHandler"="{c9298eef-69dd-4cdd-b153-bdbc38486781}"
"Description"="@shell32.dll,-31332"
"Icon"="shell32.dll,-254"
"MUIVerb"="@shell32.dll,-10564"
"SubCommands"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\empty\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{48527bb3-e8de-450b-8910-8c4099cb8624}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell\empty\shell\001flyout]
"MUIVerb"="with confirmation"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell\empty\shell\001flyout\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{48527bb3-e8de-450b-8910-8c4099cb8624}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell\empty\shell\002flyout]
"MUIVerb"="without confirmation"
"CommandFlags"=dword:00000020

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\Shell\empty\shell\002flyout\command]
@="PowerShell -WindowStyle Hidden Clear-RecycleBin -force -ErrorAction:Ignore"

OSS

TM21 · Jan 12, 2023

Good luck with that!
For me, 79 and counting, that might as well be written in Russian. Thanks anyway. I always appreciate your input.
Cheers!
TM

TM21 · Jan 12, 2023

On my end, this is getting intense, or some might call it just plain CRAZY.
On reviewing my batch file, I realized that I was not addressing the cache of Temporary Internet Files generated by Firefox or Edge.
So I did a little research and found the address of where those files live.
First, I added the location of the Firefox files to my batch file and ran it. WOW, on the one run, it deleted 9,430 Temporary Internet Files.
Then, I added the location of the Edge files to my batch file and ran it. Wowsers! 1,443 Edge temp files were deleted.
It's only Thursday evening, and so far this week, my little home brew Cleanup program has removed 490,745 garbage files. I didn't count the Megabytes, but it's significant.

So when I do my weekly C: drive backup, those 490,745 files will not be going into my Backup.
I took this screen shot, at the end of my Cleanup earlier this evening.

It is my sincere hope, that all this work I've done this week will not go to waste, but that more people will get serious about keeping their own HD clean of junk.
Cheers Mates!
TM

PS: There's also "Tracking Cookies" that can be as bad as a virus, and "Super Anti Spyware" does a great job of getting rid of those.

safron · Jan 14, 2023

Cy_kkm said:
I'm applying these options using a GPO, so I can apply the subset of common settings that I always use use to every machine. You just set the number of days there. The caveat is, GPO is unavailable in the Home edition. It might still be settable directly in the registry—this is what the Group Policy Object does when applied. Google for the exact policy name, some tables list the registry keys (whether the Home Ed. pays any attention to these settings, I dunno but vaguely remember it does).

If you apply a GPO, the controls on the corresponding page in Options will be greyed out, and there will be a message “some settings are managed by your organization”—the GPO is a domain thing, this is how admins apply settings to all computers in a domain. Just don't be startled by this.

This template is under Computer/Administrative Templates/System/Storage Sense (the path is not on the screenshot).

View attachment 49586

ADDED: There ya go!

Thank you cy_kkm. Perfect! We have recycle bins on both the C drive, and a newly partitioned D (data) drive. Do you know if the GPO (or controls in Settings for that matter) apply to both? Is there a way to limit deletion to C:\$Recycle.bin but not D:\$Recycle.bin"?
Shawn's Powershell command (option 6, referenced above) allows specification of a drive, but I wasn't successful adding an "where file is older than" criteria to the script.

safron · Jan 14, 2023

Brink said:
Hello mate,

You might test option six below to see if the command in it may for work with your BAT file.

Empty Recycle Bin in Windows 10

How to Empty Recycle Bin in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Thank you for this, Shawn. It was very helpful.
I tried adding date-based criteria to your Powershell command, but was unsuccessful. I tried piping:

Powershell:

PowerShell Clear-RecycleBin -DriveLetter C | where {$_.ModifyDate -lt (get-date).AddDays(-$Days)} -force -ErrorAction:Ignore

but it didn't work.

garlin · Jan 14, 2023

You can't select files using Clear-RecycleBin, it's all or nothing for that drive(s).

Solved Empty Recycle bin from Batch file?

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