How to Delete Large Folders Faster on Windows 11

Users of Windows 11 may frequently experience issues with the File Explorer. Despite numerous updates, Windows 11's File Explorer still has a lot of flaws and errors.

Slow file deletion speed is one of the main issues that Windows 11 users frequently encounter. Yes, Windows 11's File Explorer may lag when deleting files from a folder that has a lot of them in it.

In reality, Windows 11 computes to provide the status update when you choose a folder to delete. The operation causes a spike in CPU and disk usage, which slows down the speed at which files are deleted.

The worst part is that there is no simple way to address these issues, thus users running Windows 11 will have to rely on the Command Prompt tool to quickly erase huge files. Here's what to do if your Windows 11 PC is taking longer than usual to remove big folders.

How to Quickly Delete Huge Folders in Windows 11

This tutorial will walk you through using the Context menu or the Command Prompt to remove big directories. Neither approach requires the installation of any third-party apps; instead, it relies on built-in features. Now let's get going.

1) Use the Command Prompt to Delete Large Folders More Quickly

Using this strategy, we will delete huge folders on Windows 11 more quickly by using the Command Prompt software. These are a few of the easy steps you must do.

1. Open Windows 11 Search and type in Command Prompt. Run as administrator can then be selected by right-clicking on the Command Prompt.

2. Now navigate to the folder which you want to delete. Right-click on the Folder and select Copy as Path.

3. Now switch to the Command Prompt utility and type in cd followed by the path you’ve copied.

For example: cd “D:\Games”

4. This will select the folder. Now type del /f/q/s *.* > nul and press Enter.

5. If you want to return to one level in the folder path, type cd.. and press Enter.

6. Now type the following command to delete the folder and all its subfolders and press Enter.

Important: Replace the ‘FOLDER-NAME’ with the actual name of the folder you want to delete.

That’s it! This is how you can delete large folders in Windows 11 with the help of the Command Prompt utility.

2) Delete Large Folders Faster From the Windows 11 Context Menu

In this method, we are going to create a script & add it to the Registry. This will add a Quick Delete shortcut to the Windows 11 Context menu. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Open Notepad on your Windows 11 computer and paste the following lines.

@ECHO OFF

ECHO Delete Folder: %CD%?

PAUSE

SET FOLDER=%CD%

CD /

DEL /F/Q/S "%FOLDER%" > NUL

RMDIR /Q/S "%FOLDER%"

EXIT

2. Now click on the File > Save As. Navigate to the C:\Windows on the Save As Prompt and save the file with the .bat extension. For example, fast_delete.bat.

3. Now open the Registry Editor from the Windows 11 Search. Next, navigate to this path:

4. Right-click on the Shell folder and select New > Key.

5. Name the new key as Fast Delete and press Enter.

6. Right-click on the Fast Delete key and select New > Key.

7. Type command into the new key's name and hit Enter.

8. Perform a double-click on the right default key. Enter the following line in the Value data field of the Edit String prompt, then click OK.

9. At this point, navigate to the folder you wish to remove. When you perform a right-click on it, the context menu will appear. Choose "Fast Delete."

And that's it! With this, you may quickly remove the folder from your Windows 11 machine.

This tutorial explains how to swiftly remove big folders from a Windows 11 PC.