Send Deleted Files Or Folders To The Recycle Bin When Using Windows Command Prompt

While many tasks can be accomplished in Windows using the GUI (Graphical User Interface), the power of the command prompt far exceeds the capabilities of the GUI in every aspect.

Well…almost everything.

If you use the command prompt often, the one gotcha you always need to keep in mind is with deleting files and folders. Unlike Windows Explorer, deleting items from the command prompt bypasses the Recycle bin and is permanently deleted.

Sure you can use an undelete utility and hope that the file or folder has not been over written by the Operating System. But it would be much more convenient knowing the recycle bin is a double click away for a quick restore of the item.

Unknown to everyone on the planet but Microsoft, as to why the functionality does not exist, you can add this functionality using a third party utility from MaDdoG Software.

The free utility called Recycle does exactly what it's name says, sends files and folders that you want deleted to the recycle bin.

To use it, just download and copy recycle.exe to your Windows\System32 directory.

NOTE: Recycle is actually part of several utilities contained in the zip file. Just unzip the file to copy the utility to your computer.

Instead of using Windows del (delete) command for deleting file or folders, just enter the command as shown in the screen shot.

After pressing enter, a dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the command. To eliminate the dialog box, you can use the -f switch.

recycle.exe -f file.txt

What's cool about Recycle is that you can send multiple files and folders to the recycle bin, just like the delete (del) command. To do so, use the following syntax:

recycle.exe -f filename1 filename2

Or you can use wild cards:

recycle.exe -f fbudget* test.txt *.txt

If you need to restore the file or folder, you can just open the Recycle bin (trash can icon) on the desktop, then right click and Restore the file to it's original location.

Download Recycle.exe Utility From MaDdoG Software