This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted for your account or all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
The Recycle Bin provides a safety net when deleting files or folders. When you delete any of these items from a drive, Windows places it in the Recycle Bin and the Recycle Bin icon changes from empty to full.
If you have multiple hard drives, partitions, or an external hard drive connected to your PC, each drive will have its own hidden $Recycle.Bin system folder and Recycle Bin settings.
Removable drives, such as USB flash drives and memory cards, do not have a Recycle Bin by default. Files deleted from removable drives are permanently deleted since they do not go to the Recycle Bin. You can enable the Recycle Bin for removable drives to have deleted files from them go to the Recycle Bin instead.
Each user account on the PC will have their own separate Recycle Bin, and will be referenced by their Security Identifier (SID) in each drive's hidden $Recycle.Bin system folder.
By default, a delete confirmation dialog does not display when you delete a file or folder to the Recycle Bin.
If you delete a file or folder that's larger than the set maximum storage size of the drive's recycle bin, a This file is too big to recycle. Do you want to permanently delete it? confirmation dialog will always display.
You can manually permanently delete a file without sending it to the Recycle Bin by selecting the file and pressing the Shift + Delete keys.
If wanted, you can set to always don't move files to the Recycle Bin of a drive when deleted, and permanently delete the files immediately instead.
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for Specific Drive(s) for Current User in Recycle Bin Properties
- Option Two: Turn On or Off "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for Specific Drive(s) for Current User in Registry Editor
- Option Three: Enable or Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users in Local Group Policy Editor
- Option Four: Enable or Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users using REG file
EXAMPLE: Recycle Bin permanently delete confirmation dialog
Turn On or Off "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for Specific Drive(s) for Current User in Recycle Bin Properties
1 Right click on the Recycle Bin desktop icon, and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)
2 Select a drive Recycle Bin Location you want to change. (see screenshot below)
3 Select (dot) Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.
Selecting Custom size (default) will deselect (turn off) Don't move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted.
4 Click/tap on OK.
Turn On or Off "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for Specific Drive(s) for Current User in Registry Editor
1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Windows PowerShell.
2 Copy and paste the command below into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 3)
GWMI -namespace root\cimv2 -class win32_volume | FL -property DriveLetter, DeviceID3 Make note of the volume GUID (ex: "{1f5e756b-e2d5-456c-b092-bbbba1ff43ba}") from the DeviceID output for the DriveLetter (ex: "C") you want. (see screenshot below)
4 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
5 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 6)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucket\Volume\<Volume GUID>
Substitute <Volume GUID> in the path above with the actual volume GUID (ex: "{1f5e756b-e2d5-456c-b092-bbbba1ff43ba}") from step 3.
6 In the right pane of the <Volume GUID> key, double click/tap on the NukeOnDelete DWORD value to modify it. (see screenshot below)
7 Type 0 (off - default) or 1 (on) for what you want for this drive letter, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
8 You can now close Windows Terminal and Registry Editor when finished.
Enable or Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users in Local Group Policy Editor
You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.
The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.
All editions can use Option Four to configure the same policy.
1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
2 Navigate to the policy location below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below step 3)
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer
3 In the right pane of File Explorer in the Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)
4 Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you want.
5 Enable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users
This will prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Enabled. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below.
6 Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users
This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Not Configured. (see screenshot below)
B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below.
7 You can now close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.
Enable or Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users using REG file
You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.
1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you want.
2 Enable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users
This will prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Enable_Do_not_move_deleted_files_to_Recycle_Bin_for_all_drives_and_users.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecycleFiles"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecycleFiles"=dword:000000013 Disable "Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin" for All Drives and All Users
This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Disable_Do_not_move_deleted_files_to_Recycle_Bin_for_all_drives_and_users.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecycleFiles"=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecycleFiles"=-4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.
5 If you have Smart App Control turned on, you will need to unblock the downloaded REG file.
6 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.
7 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
8 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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