How to Check and Delete Existing File in Powershell

If you’re trying to delete a particular item regardless of the file type, you’ll have to first check whether it exists or not. Else, you’re likely going to encounter an unexpected error.

Although checking and removing files is relatively easy using the Windows GUI, you still have to navigate to multiple windows just to delete a single file. On the other hand, Powershell lets you do the same task using simple and short commands.

Well, you can simply use the Remove-Item cmdlet to delete a specific file from the given path. However, there are multiple commands and a plethora of methods to check whether the item you’re trying to delete exists or not.

Regarding the same, this article will guide you with the various commands and useful techniques to check and delete the existing files in Windows Powershell.

How to Check and Delete an Existing File in Powershell?

Windows Powershell is a terminal that lets users automate tasks using scripting languages. Thus, creating, reading, updating, or deleting files using this utility is easy to understand and implement.

Probably, you have tried checking if a file exists in Bash, Command Prompt, and Windows GUI. Now, in this section, you will learn different commands to do it in Powershell and delete it if required.

Using Test-Path

Test-Path is a command that determines whether the provided path/address exists. Basically, running this cmdlet on Powershell outputs a boolean expression. Here, True indicates that the file you’re trying to access exists, and False means it doesn’t. Below is the syntax for Test-Path:
Test-Path <Path>

For example, to check whether the file “text.txt” exists inside the Documents directory and delete it, here’s what you can do:

1. In the Powershell Window, copy and paste the below command:
   Test-Path Documents\text.txt
2. Now, hit enter, and you should get the value ‘True’ if it exists.
   
   Else, you’ll get the value ‘False’ like below.
   
3. If it exists, you can now use the below command to delete the file:
   Remove-Item Documents\text.txt
   
   However, if you try deleting the file that doesn’t exist, you’ll receive an error message like the one below.
   

If you do not prefer the boolean expressions, you can use the if and else statements to generate actual messages. Also, writing this simple code will help you delete the existing file without having to run multiple commands:

$MyFile = "Documents\text.txt"
if (Test-Path $MyFile) {
Remove-Item $MyFile
Write-Host "The file was found and has been deleted successfully."
}
else
{
Write-Host "The file you're searching for doesn't exist."
}

In the above code, we are basically representing the location by the variable MyFile. Now, the if (Test-Path $MyFile) determines whether the path exists or not. 

If it does, you’ll encounter the message “The file was found and has been deleted successfully.” and the Remove-Item $MyFile command deletes your file.

To ensure this, you can use the Test-Path Documents\text.txt again, and you should get the False output.

However, if the file doesn’t exist, you’ll simply encounter the “The file you’re searching for doesn’t exist.” message instead of the Cannot find path error as earlier.

Using Get-Item

Using Get-Item is as simple as using the Test-Path. However, this cmdlet doesn’t determine if a file exists using boolean expressions. Instead, it outputs your file’s mode, last write time, length, and name, along with its type. Given below is the syntax of Get-Item:
Get-Item <Path>

Please follow the instructions below to learn how to identify and delete an existing file using the Get-Item cmdlet. For demonstration purposes, we will remove an image file “image.bmp” from the Documents directory:

1. After launching Powershell, paste the below command:
   Get-Item Documents\image.bmp
2. Hit Enter, and you’ll get the file’s details if the file exists.
   
   Otherwise, you’ll encounter the Cannot find path error.
   
3. If the file exists, now use the below command to remove it from the directory:
   Remove-Item Documents\image.bmp
   
   But if the file doesn’t exist and you try deleting it, you’ll encounter the Cannot find path error again.
   

Well, you can also use the below program to check and delete an existing file in Powershell using the Get-Item:

$MyFile = "Documents\image.bmp"
if(Get-Item $MyFile -ErrorAction Ignore)
{
Remove-Item $MyFile
Write-Host "The file was found and has been deleted successfully."
}
else
{
Write-Host "The file you're searching for doesn't exist and can’t be deleted."
}

In the above script, we have first assigned a variable MyFile that stores the path of the image.bmp file. Then, we set the if condition as Get-Item $MyFile -ErrorAction Ignore, where Get-Item $MyFile gets the item from the location, and –ErrorAction Ignore will discard the error if the file doesn’t exist.

Basically, if your file exists, you’ll get the “The file was found and has been deleted successfully” message, and the item is deleted.

Otherwise, you’ll encounter “The file you’re searching for doesn’t exist and can’t be deleted.”

Using [System.IO.File]::Exists

System.IO deals with reading and writing into the files in the .NET framework class library. Using the namespace, we can quickly determine if a file exists. Then, using the Remove-Item cmdlet, deletion is also possible. 

Like Test-Path, the [System.IO.File]::Exists command also throws a boolean expression to determine whether a file exists or not. Here’s the syntax of the [System.IO.File]::Exists cmdlet:
[System.IO.File]::Exists(“<Path>”)

For demonstration, let’s check if an MS Word file ‘word.docx’ exists in the Document directory and delete this item:

1. Run the below cmdlet on the Powershell window:
   [System.IO.File]::Exists("Documents\word.docx")
2. Now, Powershell returns True if the file exists.
   
   Otherwise, the output is False.
   
3. If the file you’re searching for exists, use the following command to delete it:
   Remove-Item Documents\word.docx
   
   Well, Powershell triggers the Cannot find path error if you try deleting a nonexistent file.
   

Furthermore, you can try the below program that adopts the [System.IO.File]::Exists cmdlet to delete an existing file on Windows Powershell:

$MyFile = "Documents\word.docx"
if([System.IO.File]::Exists($MyFile))
{
Remove-Item $MyFile
Write-Host "The file was found and has been deleted successfully"
}
else
{
Write-Host "The file you're searching for doesn't exist and can’t be deleted."
}

In the above program, MyFile is a variable that stores the path of the MS Word file. Now, using the [System.IO.File]::Exists($MyFile), we get to know whether the item exists or not.

Now, instead of displaying the boolean expression, the Write-Host cmdlet displays “The file was found and has been deleted successfully.” and deletes the file if it exists.

Similarly, you get the message, “The file you’re searching for doesn’t exist and can’t be deleted.” if the path isn’t set right.

How to Delete Multiple Existing Files in Powershell?

Sometimes, you might want to delete multiple files from a folder or directory. In such a case, Windows Powershell provides a feature to remove all or selected files permanently. 

In this section, we will discuss some easy and effective ways to check and delete multiple existing files in the Powershell program.

All Files From a Specific Folder

If you wish to delete all the files from a particular folder regardless of the file type or extension, here’s the appropriate command you can use:
Remove-Item <Path>\*.*

For example, let’s check the files inside the Example folder and delete all the files inside it. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Firstly, use the below command to check the files inside the Example folder:
   Get-ChildItem C:\Users\Bhishu\Desktop\Example
   
2. Now, you can run the below code to delete all these files:
   Remove-Item C:\Users\Bhishu\Desktop\Example\*.*
   
3. To confirm that all your files are removed, use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet again, which shouldn’t display anything.
   

Hidden or Read-Only Files

Well, removing all the files won’t delete those with read-only and hidden attributes. In fact, if you try removing such items, you’ll get the You do not have sufficient access rights to perform this operation error.

Hence, you need to use the -Force parameter to delete them forcefully:
Remove-Item <Path> -Force

Let’s take an example to understand this. Suppose we have a hidden and read-only file, ‘word.docx’, inside the Example folder. So, to remove this, here’s the correct command you need to use:
Remove-Item C:\Users\Bhishu\Desktop\Example\word.docx -Force

Now, you should not get the error. In fact, you can validate this by using the Test-Path command to check whether the hidden file now exists in the same location.

All Files of the Same Type

If you do not want to delete all the files from a specific folder but rather wish to remove only those items having the same file type, here’s the syntax you’re looking for:
Remove-Item <Path>*[file-type]

For example, to delete all the files having the .docx extension from the Example folder, please follow the below steps:

1. First of all, run the below script to check what files exist in the folder:
   Get-Item C:\Users\bishu\Desktop\Example\*.*
   
   Here, the *.* will show all the files regardless of their extension.
2. Since you’re only trying to remove files having the same type, use the following command that should do the job:
   Remove-Item C:\Users\bishu\Desktop\Example\*.docx
   Basically, the *.docx will help delete all those files with the .docx extension. Similarly, you can replace it with any file type (.bmp, .txt, .jpeg), which will delete only those files with the corresponding extension.
3. Finally, you can use the Get-Item command again to view all the files in the Example folder. Indeed, you’ll notice that all the .docx files get removed.