How to fast delete many files

Question

I have a folder in Windows Server with subfolders and ≈50000 files. When I click the right mouse button and choose delete (or shift+delete) – all files are deleted in 10-20 seco

Answer 1

A much faster way to delete files is to use the Windows functions instead of the .NET ones.

You will need to first import the function:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
static extern bool DeleteFile(string lpFileName);

And then you can do this:

string[] files = Directory.EnumerateFiles(path, "*". SearchOption.AllDirectories);

foreach (string file in files)
{
    DeleteFile(file);
}

Once the files are deleted, which is the slowest part by using the managed APIs, you can call Directory.DeleteFolder(path, true) to delete the empty folders.