<p>I want to delete a folder that contains thousands of files and folders. If I use Windows Explorer to delete the folder it can take 10-15 minutes (not always, but often). Is there a faster way in Windows to delete folders? </p>

<p>Other details:</p>

<ul>
<li>I don't care about the recycle bin.</li>
<li>It's an NTFS drive.</li>
</ul>

Using Windows Command Prompt:
```
```
rmdir /s /q folder
```
```
Using Powershell:
```
```
powershell -Command "Remove-Item -LiteralPath 'folder' -Force -Recurse"
```
```
Note that in more cases
```
del
```
and
```
rmdir
```
wil leave you with leftover files, where Powershell manages to delete the files.