DOS Del

An internal command in DOS and Windows that erases a file from the disk. In DOS, a deleted file can be undeleted using the DOS Undelete utility, because the data are not deleted, only the directory entry to the data. In Windows, the recycle bin provides an automatic undelete, which is a safer way to delete files. See DOS Undelete.

DELETING FROM THE CURRENT DIRECTORY
To delete a file named OLD.TXT in your current directory, type:

        del old.txt   or   erase old.txt

DELETING ALL FILES IN YOUR CURRENT DIRECTORY
To delete ALL files in your current directory, type the following command. You'll be prompted with "Are you sure?" Type y to perform the operation.

           del *.*   or   erase *.*

DELETING SELECTED FILES IN YOUR CURRENT DIRECTORY
To delete all DOC files in your current directory, type:

          del *.doc  or   erase *.doc

DELETING A FILE FROM A FLOPPY DISK
To delete the SALES.DBF file on your floppy disk, type:

      del a:sales.dbf      on disk A:

      del b:sales.dbf      on disk B:

DELETING ALL FILES FROM YOUR FLOPPY
To delete all files on a floppy disk, type the following commands and when prompted "Are you sure?" type y to confirm:

     del a:*.*     ALL files on A:

     del b:*.*     ALL files on B:

A Shortcut for Blanking Floppies!
If you delete all files on floppies often as many people do, you can create a batch file that saves you a little time. After entering del a:*.*, it takes a few seconds to get the "Are you sure?" confirmation, because it takes time to get the drive spinning.

You can create a batch file that deletes all files and confirms at the same time. For example, using a text editor, create a file called DELETEA.BAT or some similar name. Don't be cute and make this file name short. Typing this name should always be deliberate.

Enter the following in the file and save it. The | is the shift-backslash key.

             echo y | del a:*.*

When you type deletea to run the batch file, all files will be erased on floppy drive A: without your having to confirm it. You can then create a DELETEB.BAT file for drive B:. What you're actually doing here is piping the "yes" confirmation to the delete command. For more on this, see DOS filters & pipes.

It's not a good idea to create this kind of batch file to delete files on your hard disk. Type in the del *.* and confirm it. The prompt makes you think one last time. While you can undelete files in DOS 5 and later versions, you can just as well forego the pleasure. For more on batch files, see DOS batch file.

Oops!
If you ever delete a file by mistake, and you must recover it, starting with DOS 5, all you have to do is type:

                     undelete

See DOS Undelete.