Windows/Delete Unowned Folder - Revision history

Kenneth at 08:22, 5 January 2026

2026-01-05T08:22:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:22, 5 January 2026
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	# Powershell: remove the directory		# Powershell: remove the directory
	Remove-Item -Path "C:\Path\To\Folder" -Recurse -Force		Remove-Item -Path "C:\Path\To\Folder" -Recurse -Force
			# alias rmdir
			rmdir -Path "C:\Path\To\Folder" -Recurse -Force

			Note: only reason "rmdir" won't work correctly in powershell, is Powershell aliases to Remove-Item

2026-01-05T08:15:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:15, 5 January 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	Run from a user in Administrators group, and from a command line window elevated to Administrator permission		Run from a user in Administrators group, and from a command line window elevated to Administrator permission

	# Take ownership as self		# Take ownership as self (CMD or Powershell)
	takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y		takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y
	# OR		# OR
	# Take owenership as Administrator group		# Take owenership as Administrator group (CMD or Powershell)
	takeown /A /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y		takeown /A /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y

Line 10:		Line 10:
	icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t		icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t

	# remove the directory		# CMD: remove the directory
	rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder"		rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder"
			# OR
			# Powershell: remove the directory
			Remove-Item -Path "C:\Path\To\Folder" -Recurse -Force

2026-01-05T08:11:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:11, 5 January 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	Run from a user in Administrators group, and from a command line window elevated to Administrator permission		Run from a user in Administrators group, and from a command line window elevated to Administrator permission

			# Take ownership as self
	takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y		takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y
			# OR
			# Take owenership as Administrator group
			takeown /A /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y

			# Give full permission to Administrator group
	icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t		icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t

			# remove the directory
	rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder"		rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder"

2025-12-19T18:51:07Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:51, 19 December 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
			Run from a user in Administrators group, and from a command line window elevated to Administrator permission

	takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y		takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y

2025-12-19T18:46:50Z

Created page with " takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder""

New page

takeown /f "C:\Path\To\Folder" /r /d y

icacls "C:\Path\To\Folder" /grant Administrators:F /t

rmdir /s /q "C:\Path\To\Folder"