Member Avatar for forumdude123

I know this is a silly thing to be complaining about, but i have this little problem with vista when it comes to recycle bin. when i delete a program, i am used to hitting delete on my keyboard. but, when it comes to recycle bin emptying, i hate to have to right click and select with the mouse empty recycle bin. (i get pissed when the mouse must be used for deleting files out of a recycle bin)

is there any way possible to make it so when i press delete on my Recycle Bin, it will delete the files in the recycle bin, and not the recycle bin icon itself. if u don't know already, when you accidentally remove the icon off your desktop, you have to go to personalization to get it back. thanks in advance for those who can help.

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As described, pressing Delete on the Recycle Bin icon will remove the icon instead of emptying its contents. A practical workaround that keeps the desktop icon intact is to create a dedicated “Empty Recycle Bin” shortcut and bind a keyboard hotkey to that shortcut. That gives a one‑keystroke way to purge the bin without needing the mouse and without changing how Delete behaves for the icon. (makeuseof.com)

Create the shortcut, then assign a hotkey. Right‑click the desktop → New → Shortcut and paste one of these targets into the location box (choose the one that fits your system):

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "Clear-RecycleBin -Force"

(or, on older installs where PowerShell’s cmdlet isn’t available)

cmd.exe /c rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.Bin

Finish the shortcut creation and give it a name like “Empty Recycle Bin”. The PowerShell line uses the built‑in Clear‑RecycleBin cmdlet; the rd approach removes the per‑drive $Recycle.Bin folder (Windows will recreate it). The rd method requires elevation and must be repeated per drive. (learn.microsoft.com)

To assign a keyboard shortcut: right‑click the new shortcut → Properties → Shortcut key, press the key combination you want (Windows will prepend Ctrl+Alt for a single-letter press), Apply → OK. The hotkey works as long as the shortcut stays where Windows expects it (desktop or Start menu). Test carefully the first time so you’re sure the command does what you intend. (dottech.org)

A few cautions: emptying the Recycle Bin is permanent. Use the PowerShell -Force switch or the rd command only when you mean it. If you prefer not to touch system folders, a small trusted utility (for example NirCmd) can be used to create an “empty bin” shortcut instead. Back up or test first. (makeuseof.com)

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for venkatesh.medi

It is better to use shortcut key
Alt+del before deleting the file. This file automatically delete from the recycle bin.


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ajay

Member Avatar for meksikatsi

good to know, thanks

Member Avatar for zeroth

is there a quick way to get to a list of shortcuts? Like a shortcut to shortcuts...

Member Avatar for luvuyomaq

I know this is a silly thing to be complaining about, but i have this little problem with vista when it comes to recycle bin. when i delete a program, i am used to hitting delete on my keyboard. but, when it comes to recycle bin emptying, i hate to have to right click and select with the mouse empty recycle bin. (i get pissed when the mouse must be used for deleting files out of a recycle bin)

is there any way possible to make it so when i press delete on my Recycle Bin, it will delete the files in the recycle bin, and not the recycle bin icon itself. if u don't know already, when you accidentally remove the icon off your desktop, you have to go to personalization to get it back. thanks in advance for those who can help.

click on the bin icon and press enter once inside press ctrl+a to select everything and then use your favourate button DEL

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