Bypass File Deletion Prompts In Windows

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 27, 2012
Tutorials, Windows, Windows tips
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9

When you try to delete a file or folder in Windows Explorer, a confirmation prompt is displayed first that is basically asking you if you want to proceed with the deletion of the file. If you are making use of the Recycle Bin on the operating system, you get a are you sure you want to move this file to the Recycle Bin prompt. If you have opted-out of using the Recycle Bin, you will see the are you sure you want to permanently delete this file prompt instead.

Here are screenshots of the two prompts you may see.

Are you sure you want to move this file to the Recycle Bin?

are you sure you want to move this file to the recycle bin

Are you sure you want to permanently delete this file?

are you sure you want to permanently delete this file

Fixing the issue

The issue that you may have with this is that it can be quite interrupting when you have to confirm the deletion of files every time you delete some on the operating system.  First thing that you might try to bypass the prompt is to disable moving deleted files to the Recycle Bin. But that turns out to not be enough to fix it, as deletions will then trigger the second prompt instead.

You may look into the folder options of Windows Explorer, only to find out that there is no option to bypass deletion confirmations in there. Microsoft, for whatever reason, has added the setting to the Recycle Bin properties. While that makes sense for the first prompt asking you if you want to move the file to the Recycle Bin, it does not really make that much sense for the second prompt as the Recycle Bin is not involved here at all (at least not in the foreground).

Right-click on your Recycle Bin and select the properties link in the context menu. Notice the display delete confirmation dialog check box at the bottom? This triggers the confirmation prompts that you see when you delete files in Windows. Uncheck the box, and both prompts are bypassed automatically.

You can also configure Windows to bypass the Recycle Bin for deletions in the same menu, by switching from custom size for select hard drives to don't move files to the Recycle Bin. remove files immediately when deleted instead.

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Comments

  1. JohnJ said on March 27, 2012 at 10:26 pm
    Reply

    I am also using Win 7 (32bit) and while i don’t get a dialog when I right-click to delete a file, I do get the “are you sure you want to permanently delete xxx.xxx” dialog, when emptying the Recycle Bin, even though I’ve got mine UN-checked in Properties.

    I just thought this was a common bug yet to be fixed.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 27, 2012 at 10:28 pm
      Reply

      It is probably by design.

      1. JohnJ said on March 27, 2012 at 10:35 pm
        Reply

        Yea…that, too. :)

  2. SteveW said on March 27, 2012 at 7:36 pm
    Reply

    I would like to disable the prompt but still send them 2 the Bin so I could retrieve what I mistakenly delete.
    Prob is that files deleted from thumb drive don’t go to Bin. Is there a way 2 change that? (or 2 make the prompt appear only for files deleted from removable drives?)

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 27, 2012 at 10:19 pm
      Reply
  3. Midnight said on March 27, 2012 at 4:08 pm
    Reply

    I use Eraser, as well as CCleaner to delete unwanted files, as emptying the Recycle bin does absolutely nothing, except show the bin as being empty!

    The files still remain, can be recovered, which can pose a security risk, should anybody hack into your system!
    Best to make sure that the files are Permanently gone!

  4. jimmyjamesjimmy said on March 27, 2012 at 2:47 pm
    Reply

    shift + del (no undelete tho)

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 27, 2012 at 2:48 pm
      Reply

      When the box is checked, you will still receive the prompt.

  5. David said on March 27, 2012 at 2:32 pm
    Reply

    I’m using Windows 7 64-bit. I don’t have the display delete confirmation dialog checked, but I still get the second prompt when I empty the recycle bin.

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