If you recently migrated from another operating system to Windows or want to teach someone how Empty recycle bin in Windows 10, this article might be useful to you. Did you know that there are six different ways to empty the trash on Windows 10? Let’s talk about it.
Different ways to empty the trash in Windows 10
These are some of the ways to empty the trash in Windows 10-
- From the desktop context menu
- From the file explorer
- Using Disk Cleanup
- Using Store Sense to automatically empty the trash
- Using the command prompt
- Using Windows PowerShell.
Let’s explore the steps in detail.
1]Empty the recycle bin in the context menu of the desktop
By default, Windows 10 includes the Recycle Bin on the desktop, and you can find an option to empty it from there. This is probably the most used and common method of removing everything from the trash. You must right click on the trash on your desktop and select Empty recycling bin option.
POINT: This message will help you if the Empty trash does not work.
2]Empty from file explorer
This method works when the Recycle Bin is visible in the side panel of File Explorer. You will need to add the Recycle Bin to the navigation pane of File Explorer in Windows 10. After that, you can click the Recycle Bin to see the Trash tools in the ribbon. After clicking Trash tools, you should find an option called Empty recycling bin.
Click it to do your job.
3]Empty using disk cleanup
Just as you can delete temporary files using Disk Cleanup, it is possible to empty the Recycle Bin using the same tool. As the name suggests, this utility helps users delete various unwanted data to create free space on the computer.
To start with Disk Cleanup, you must first open it. To do this, right click on drive C or the system drive in This PC and select Properties. in the General tab you can see a button called Disc cleaning. You must click this button.
In the next window, uncheck all the boxes except Basket.
After that click on the Okay and confirm the deletion by clicking on the button Delete files button.
4]Use Store Sense to automatically empty the trash
Storage Sense allows you to get free storage space on your computer to keep only important files. How does it make space? By deleting temporary files, emptying the recycle bin, etc. Therefore, you can follow this guide to automatically delete the files in the recycle bin.
5]Empty using command prompt
The command prompt has always been a trusted companion for Windows users, and you can use the help of this utility to empty the Recycle Bin in Windows 10. As usual, you have to execute a command. To do this, open the command prompt on Windows 10, type this following command and press the Enter button.
PowerShell Clear-RecycleBin -force -ErrorAction:Ignore
6]Empty using Windows PowerShell
Like the command prompt, Windows PowerShell can help you force the empty trash by running a command. To do this, open Windows PowerShell on your computer and run this command-
Clear-RecycleBin -force -ErrorAction:Ignore
You will see a brief indication that the trash is deleted on all drives.
That’s all! These are some of the methods to empty the trash in Windows 10.
Readings that may interest you:
- How to automatically empty the trash
- Activate, deactivate the deletion confirmation box for the trash
- Trash is grayed out in desktop icon settings
- The trash is corrupted.
