How to Empty All Recycle Bins on Windows
This is a crude one-liner to empty ALL recycle bins on a given Windows system drive. Tested on Windows Server 2008, 2012 and 2016
Simply open up a command-prompt
with elevated priviledges, and type:
C:\Windows\system32> rd /s c:\$Recycle.bin c:\$Recycle.bin, Are you sure (Y/N)? y C:\Windows\system32>
NOTE: You must run cmd
as Administrator.
By simply replacing the drive, we can run the same command on an alternative locations. For example on the H: drive...
C:\Windows\system32> rd /s h:\$Recycle.bin h:\$Recycle.bin, Are you sure (Y/N)? y C:\Windows\system32>
Update #1 (20/8/18): Actually, this also work on Windows 7 Desktop environments.
Update #2 (29/8/18): For older systems like Windows XP, Vista or Windows Server 2003, the equivalent command would be:
C:\Windows\system32> rd /s c:\recycler