General Enable or Disable Permanently Delete instead of Recycle Bin in Windows 11


  • Staff
Recycle_Bin_empty_banner.png

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 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.


EXAMPLE: Recycle Bin permanently delete confirmation dialog

permanently_delete_confirmation_dialog.png



Here's How:

1 Right click on the Recycle Bin desktop icon, and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)

Recyle_Bin_properties-1.png

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.

Recyle_Bin_properties-2.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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Does this approach permanently delete all the pointers to the files as well?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
Does this approach permanently delete all the pointers to the files as well?

Hello, and welcome. :alien:

If you meant shortcuts to the file, then no. It'll only delete the specific file from the location you deleted it from.

Instead of the file being moved to the Recycle Bin to be permanently deleted whenever you empty the Recycle Bin, it doesn't get moved to the Recycle Bin and gets permanently deleted immediately.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium

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