How to delete empty folders in Windows 10/11

When you uninstall programs or make certain changes, empty directories may remain in your PC's memory, affecting it unnecessarily over time.
Removing empty directories on a Windows 10 PC is a simple task, but it can take a lot of time if you do not have the right tools.
The most convenient solution is to find empty folders on your PC.
But this task can take too long, so you can use a registry cleaner to simplify things.

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All of us have empty folders left over uninstalling programs or after simple modifications. While these folders do not take much memory, they greatly affect the way your computer is organized.

That does not mean that we must search through thousands of folders to find the ones that are completely empty because it would take forever to find all of them.

There are some simple and easy to implement methods that you can use to remove empty directories in Windows 10 instead, so continue reading.

Is it safe to delete empty folders in Windows 10?

Yes, most empty directories are perfectly safe to delete, but you need to be mindful of their location. If you can’t delete certain files or folders, it’s probably best to leave them be, even if they are empty.

It’s important to find and delete empty folders especially if you want to remove software leftovers and ensure that they don’t interfere with your system in any way.

Speaking of which, we have a useful guide on how to remove unnecessary apps from WindowsApps folder, so be sure to check it out if you want to learn more.

If you’re wondering how to delete empty folders on Windows 11 and 10, we’ll show you that in our solutions below.

How do I find and remove empty folders Windows 10 and 11?

1. Search for empty folders

Open This PC.

Click on the Search Tab to open the Search Menu.

Set the Size filter to Empty, and be sure that the All subfolder feature is checked.

After the search ends, it will display all files and folders that do not take up any memory space.

Select the ones you want to delete, right-click on one of them, and click on Delete.

This first method does not require any software to be installed, but rather is based on a search based on size.

It is very easy to do it because it performs like any other search on the system level. The only difference is a zero byte filter for the storage memory.

2. Clear registry entries using Restoro

Registry cleaners can help you delete redundant items from your computer’s registry, and this includes empty folders as well.

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So, if you haven’t installed a registry cleaner on your machine, we strongly recommend you to use Restoro on your Windows 10 PC.

This software is the best choice to remove empty directories, and improve the performance of your computer.

Download and install Restoro.

Open it, and let it finish the initial analysis of your PC.

Select Start repair to perform a full system repair, which also includes empty folders as well.

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Now you can remove the unwanted empty directories in Windows 10 with this great software!

3. Use Command Prompt

Press the Windows key, and type cmd.

In the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter: DIR /AD/B/S | SORT /R > EMPTIES.BAT

The EMPTIES.BAT file contains a list with all your folders in reverse order (sorted by the memory used).

Open the file with Word or any other editor. Word has a Find and Replace feature.

Search the structure ^p and replace it with ^pRD

Save the EMPTIES.BAT file, and exit from your editor.

Run the file, and it will try to delete all the folders that are on that list, but it will fail for the folders with content.

This method is a little more difficult to implement but if you follow these steps thoroughly you will be able to do it.

This is how it works:

For the DIR command, the function /AD selects all the files that have director attribution, in other words, the files that are folders.
The /B function gives a list with only the file name.
The /S function tells the PC to also check the subfolders.
To introduce the SORT command you must enter the | symbol.
/R function tells the PC to sort the folders in reverse order.
The symbol > tells the PC to redirect the output of SORT function in the EMPTIES.BAT file.
Because the sort is in reverse, every subfolder of every folder will be deleted when the parent folder is processed.

This method is a little more complicated compared to the search method, but it is also much more effective because you have access to all the folders in your computer.

Work in Command Prompt like a real technician with our complete guide!

4. Make sure you have all the necessary permissions

Sometimes, you may not be able to delete certain folders because you don’t have the necessary permissions. If you didn’t create the respective folders, you may need to ask the owner to delete them.

So, make sure that you’re connected with an Administrator account, and you have all the necessary permissions over the respective folders.

Also, if the folders that you want to delete are currently open in another program, this may explain why you can’t remove them. Close them and then try to delete them again.

There you go, we hope that these quick tips helped to remove empty directories on your Windows 10 PC. For more questions and suggestions, please leave a comment in the section below.

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