MS DOS Command: DELTREE.EXE

Reference from Microsoft MS-DOS cmd help

Description

Deletes a directory and all the files and subdirectories that are in it.

Syntax

DELTREE [/Y] [drive:]path [[drive:]path[...]]

Parameters

drive:path

Specifies the name of the directory you want to delete. The DELTREE command will delete all the files contained in the directory you specify, as well as all subdirectories and files in the subdirectories subordinate to this directory. You can specify more than one directory.

Switch

/Y	Carries out the DELTREE command without first prompting you to confirm the deletion.

Related Commands

For information about removing a directory, see the RMDIR command.

For information about deleting files, see the DEL command.

Remarks

DELTREE and hidden, system, and read-only attributes

The DELTREE command deletes all files contained in a directory or subdirectory, regardless of attributes.

Errorlevel parameters

If DELTREE successfully deleted the directory, it returns an ERRORLEVEL value of 0.

Using wildcards with DELTREE

You can use wildcards with the DELTREE command, but use them with extreme caution. If you specify a wildcard that matches both directory names and filenames, both the directories and files will be deleted. Before specifying wildcards with the DELTREE command, use the DIR command to view the files and directories you will delete.

Examples

To delete the TEMP directory on drive C, including all files and subdirectories of the TEMP directory, type the following at the command prompt:

deltree c:\temp