Remove directory which is not empty - node.js

Question

In my Node application I need to remove a directory which has some files, but fs.rmdir only works on empty directories. How can I do this?

Answer 1

As of Node.js 14.14.0, the recommended way is to use fs.rmSync:
fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });

Answer 2

There is a module for this called rimraf (https://npmjs.org/package/rimraf). It provides the same functionality as rm -Rf
Async usage:
var rimraf = require("rimraf");
rimraf("/some/directory", function () { console.log("done"); });
Sync usage:
rimraf.sync("/some/directory");

Answer 3

To remove folder synchronously
const fs = require('fs');
const Path = require('path');
const deleteFolderRecursive = function (directoryPath) {
if (fs.existsSync(directoryPath)) {
fs.readdirSync(directoryPath).forEach((file, index) => {
const curPath = path.join(directoryPath, file);
if (fs.lstatSync(curPath).isDirectory()) {
// recurse
deleteFolderRecursive(curPath);
} else {
// delete file
fs.unlinkSync(curPath);
}
});
fs.rmdirSync(directoryPath);
}
};

Answer 4

Most of the people using fs with Node.js would like functions close to the "Unix way" of dealing with files. I'm using fs-extra to bring all the cool stuff :
fs-extra contains methods that aren't included in the vanilla Node.js
fs package. Such as mkdir -p, cp -r, and rm -rf.
Even better, fs-extra is a drop in replacement for native fs. All methods in fs are unmodified and attached to it.
It means that you can replace fs by fs-extra :
// this can be replaced
const fs = require('fs')
// by this
const fs = require('fs-extra')
And then you can remove a folder this way:
fs.removeSync('/tmp/myFolder');
//or
fs.remove('/tmp/myFolder', callback);

Answer 5

As of Node v14 (October 2020), the fs module has fs.rm and rs.rmSync that support recursive, non-empty directory unlinking:
https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v14.x/api/fs.html#fs_fs_rm_path_options_callback
So you can now do something like this:
const fs = require('fs');
fs.rm('/path/to/delete', { recursive: true }, () => console.log('done'));
or:
const fs = require('fs');
fs.rmSync('/path/to/delete', { recursive: true });
console.log('done');

Answer 6

My modified answer from #oconnecp (https://stackoverflow.com/a/25069828/3027390)
Uses path.join for better cross-platform experience.
So, don't forget to require it.
var path = require('path');
Also renamed function to rimraf ;)
/**
* Remove directory recursively
* #param {string} dir_path
* #see https://stackoverflow.com/a/42505874/3027390
*/
function rimraf(dir_path) {
if (fs.existsSync(dir_path)) {
fs.readdirSync(dir_path).forEach(function(entry) {
var entry_path = path.join(dir_path, entry);
if (fs.lstatSync(entry_path).isDirectory()) {
rimraf(entry_path);
} else {
fs.unlinkSync(entry_path);
}
});
fs.rmdirSync(dir_path);
}
}

Answer 7

I don't usually resurrect old threads but there is a lot on churn here and sans the rimraf answer these all seem overly complicated to me.
First in modern Node (>= v8.0.0) you can simplify the process using only node core modules, fully asynchronous, and parallelize the unlinking of files concurrently all in a function of five lines and still keep readability:
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
const { promisify } = require('util');
const readdir = promisify(fs.readdir);
const rmdir = promisify(fs.rmdir);
const unlink = promisify(fs.unlink);
exports.rmdirs = async function rmdirs(dir) {
let entries = await readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
await Promise.all(entries.map(entry => {
let fullPath = path.join(dir, entry.name);
return entry.isDirectory() ? rmdirs(fullPath) : unlink(fullPath);
}));
await rmdir(dir);
};
On another note a guard for path traversal attacks is inappropriate for this function because
It is out of scope based on the Single Responsibility Principle.
Should be handled by the caller not this function. This is akin to the command-line rm -rf in that it takes an argument and will allow the user to rm -rf / if asked to. It would be the responsibility of a script to guard not the rm program itself.
This function would be unable to determine such an attack since it does not have a frame of reference. Again that is the responsibility of the caller who would have the context of intent which would provide it a reference to compare the path traversal.
Sym-links are not a concern as .isDirectory() is false for sym-links and are unlinked not recursed into.
Last but not least, there is a rare race condition that the recursion could error if one of the entries was unlinked or deleted outside this script at just the right time while this recursion is running. Since this scenario is not typical in most environments it can likely be overlooked. However, if required (for some edge cases) this issue can be mitigated with this slightly more complex example:
exports.rmdirs = async function rmdirs(dir) {
let entries = await readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
let results = await Promise.all(entries.map(entry => {
let fullPath = path.join(dir, entry.name);
let task = entry.isDirectory() ? rmdirs(fullPath) : unlink(fullPath);
return task.catch(error => ({ error }));
}));
results.forEach(result => {
// Ignore missing files/directories; bail on other errors
if (result && result.error.code !== 'ENOENT') throw result.error;
});
await rmdir(dir);
};
EDIT: Make isDirectory() a function. Remove the actual directory at the end. Fix missing recursion.

Answer 8

Here is an async version of #SharpCoder's answer
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
function deleteFile(dir, file) {
return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
var filePath = path.join(dir, file);
fs.lstat(filePath, function (err, stats) {
if (err) {
return reject(err);
}
if (stats.isDirectory()) {
resolve(deleteDirectory(filePath));
} else {
fs.unlink(filePath, function (err) {
if (err) {
return reject(err);
}
resolve();
});
}
});
});
};
function deleteDirectory(dir) {
return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
fs.access(dir, function (err) {
if (err) {
return reject(err);
}
fs.readdir(dir, function (err, files) {
if (err) {
return reject(err);
}
Promise.all(files.map(function (file) {
return deleteFile(dir, file);
})).then(function () {
fs.rmdir(dir, function (err) {
if (err) {
return reject(err);
}
resolve();
});
}).catch(reject);
});
});
});
};

Answer 9

From Node docs, as one can see here.
To get a behavior similar to the rm -rf Unix command, use fs.rm() with options { recursive: true, force: true }.
For Example (ESM)
import { rm } from 'node:fs/promises';
await rm('/path/to', { recursive: true, force: true });

Answer 10

I wrote this function called remove folder. It will recursively remove all the files and folders in a location. The only package it requires is async.
var async = require('async');
function removeFolder(location, next) {
fs.readdir(location, function (err, files) {
async.each(files, function (file, cb) {
file = location + '/' + file
fs.stat(file, function (err, stat) {
if (err) {
return cb(err);
}
if (stat.isDirectory()) {
removeFolder(file, cb);
} else {
fs.unlink(file, function (err) {
if (err) {
return cb(err);
}
return cb();
})
}
})
}, function (err) {
if (err) return next(err)
fs.rmdir(location, function (err) {
return next(err)
})
})
})
}

Answer 11

[EDIT: using node.js v15.5.0]
Having just tried using some of the solutions posted here, I encountered the following deprecation warning:
(node:13202) [DEP0147] DeprecationWarning: In future versions of
Node.js, fs.rmdir(path, { recursive: true }) will throw if path does
not exist or is a file. Use fs.rm(path, { recursive: true, force: true
}) instead
fs.rm(path, { recursive: true, force: true }); works nicely, with fs.rmSync(path, { recursive: true, force: true }); if you want to use the blocking version.

Answer 12

If you are using node 8+ want asyncronicity and don't want external dependencies, here is the async/await version:
const path = require('path');
const fs = require('fs');
const util = require('util');
const readdir = util.promisify(fs.readdir);
const lstat = util.promisify(fs.lstat);
const unlink = util.promisify(fs.unlink);
const rmdir = util.promisify(fs.rmdir);
const removeDir = async (dir) => {
try {
const files = await readdir(dir);
await Promise.all(files.map(async (file) => {
try {
const p = path.join(dir, file);
const stat = await lstat(p);
if (stat.isDirectory()) {
await removeDir(p);
} else {
await unlink(p);
console.log(`Removed file ${p}`);
}
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
}))
await rmdir(dir);
console.log(`Removed dir ${dir}`);
} catch (err) {
console.error(err);
}
}

Answer 13

const fs = require("fs");
fs.rmdir("./test", { recursive: true }, (err) => {
if (err) {
console.error(err);
}
});
Provide the recursive: true option. And it will recursively delete all the files and directories of the given path. (Assuming test is directory present at root. )

Answer 14

2020 Update
From version 12.10.0 recursiveOption has been added for options.
Note that recursive deletion is experimental.
So you would do for sync:
fs.rmdirSync(dir, {recursive: true});
or for async:
fs.rmdir(dir, {recursive: true});

Answer 15

According to the fs documentation, fsPromises currently provides the recursive option on an experimental basis, which, at least in my own case on Windows, removes the directory and any files therein.
fsPromises.rmdir(path, {
recursive: true
})
Does recursive: true remove the files on Linux and MacOS?

Answer 16

Explanations
As of Node.js v14, we can now use the require("fs").promises.rm function to remove a file using a promise. The first argument will be the file or folder to remove (even non-existant ones). You can use the recursive and force options in the second argument's object to mimic the behavior of the rm Shell command utility with the -rf options.
Example
"use strict";
require("fs").promises.rm("directory", {recursive: true, force: true}).then(() => {
console.log("removed");
}).catch(error => {
console.error(error.message);
});
See
Node.js v14 Documentation
Mozilla Developer Promises Documentation
rm command manual page

Answer 17

I reached here while trying to get over with the gulp and I'm writing for further reaches.
gulp-clean deprecated for gulp-rimraf
gulp-rimraf deprecated in favor of delete-files-folders
When you want to delete files and folders using del, you should append /** for recursive deletion.
gulp.task('clean', function () {
return del(['some/path/to/delete/**']);
});

Answer 18

In the latest version of Node.js (12.10.0 or later), the rmdir style functions fs.rmdir(), fs.rmdirSync(), and fs.promises.rmdir() have a new experimental option recursive that allows deleting non-empty directories, e.g.
fs.rmdir(path, { recursive: true });
The related PR on GitHub: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/29168

Answer 19

Async version of #SharpCoder's answer using fs.promises:
const fs = require('fs');
const afs = fs.promises;
const deleteFolderRecursive = async path => {
if (fs.existsSync(path)) {
for (let entry of await afs.readdir(path)) {
const curPath = path + "/" + entry;
if ((await afs.lstat(curPath)).isDirectory())
await deleteFolderRecursive(curPath);
else await afs.unlink(curPath);
}
await afs.rmdir(path);
}
};

Answer 20

return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const fs = require("fs");
// directory path
const dir = "your/dir";
// delete directory recursively <------
fs.rmdir(dir, { recursive: true }, (err) => {
if (err) {
reject(err);
}
resolve(`${dir} is deleted!`);
});
});

Answer 21

If you prefer async/await, you can use the fs/promises API.
const fs = require('fs/promises');
const removeDir = async (dirPath) => {
await fs.rm(dirPath, {recursive: true});
}
If you know the path of a single file in the folder and wish to delete the folder where that file is contained.
const fs = require('fs/promises');
const path = require('path');
const removeDir = async (filePath) => {
const { dir } = path.parse(filePath);
await fs.rm(dir, { recursive: true });
}

Answer 22

Just use rmdir module! it's easy and simple.

Answer 23

A quick and dirty way (maybe for testing) could be to directly use the exec or spawn method to invoke OS call to remove the directory. Read more on NodeJs child_process.
let exec = require('child_process').exec
exec('rm -Rf /tmp/*.zip', callback)
Downsides are:
You are depending on underlying OS i.e. the same method would run in unix/linux but probably not in windows.
You cannot hijack the process on conditions or errors. You just give the task to underlying OS and wait for the exit code to be returned.
Benefits:
These processes can run asynchronously.
You can listen for the output/error of the command, hence command output is not lost. If operation is not completed, you can check the error code and retry.

Answer 24

The de facto package is rimraf, but here is my tiny async version:
const fs = require('fs')
const path = require('path')
const Q = require('q')
function rmdir (dir) {
return Q.nfcall(fs.access, dir, fs.constants.W_OK)
.then(() => {
return Q.nfcall(fs.readdir, dir)
.then(files => files.reduce((pre, f) => pre.then(() => {
var sub = path.join(dir, f)
return Q.nfcall(fs.lstat, sub).then(stat => {
if (stat.isDirectory()) return rmdir(sub)
return Q.nfcall(fs.unlink, sub)
})
}), Q()))
})
.then(() => Q.nfcall(fs.rmdir, dir))
}

Answer 25

In an asynchronous approach , to delete a non empty dir using the
rmdir(path,{recursive:true,force:true}
rm(path,{recursive:true,force:true}
will work
A code snippet:
const fsp = require("fs/promises");
deleteDirRecursively("./b");
removeRecursively("./BCD/b+");
async function deleteDirRecursively(dirPath) {
try {
// fsPromises.rmdir() on a file (not a directory) results in the promise being rejected
// with an ENOENT error on Windows and an ENOTDIR error on POSIX.
// To get a behavior similar to the rm -rf Unix command,
// use fsPromises.rm() with options { recursive: true, force: true }.
//will not thorw error if dir is empty
//will thow error if dir is not present
await fsp.rmdir(dirPath, { recursive: true, force: true });
console.log(dirPath, "deleted successfully");
} catch (err) {
console.log(err);
}
async function removeRecursively(path) {
try {
//has ability to remove both file and dir
//can delete dir recursively and forcefully
//will delete an empty dir.
//will remove all the contents of a dir.
// the only difference between rmdir and rm is that rmdir can only delete dir's
await fsp.rm(path, { recursive: true, force: true });
console.log(path, "deleted successfully");
} catch (err) {
console.log(err);
}
}

Answer 26

Ultra-speed and fail-proof
You can use the lignator package (https://www.npmjs.com/package/lignator), it's faster than any async code (e.g. rimraf) and more fail-proof (especially in Windows, where file removal is not instantaneous and files might be locked by other processes).
4,36 GB of data, 28 042 files, 4 217 folders on Windows removed in 15 seconds vs rimraf's 60 seconds on old HDD.
const lignator = require('lignator');
lignator.remove('./build/');

Answer 27

Sync folder remove with the files or only a file.
I am not much of a giver nor a contributor but I couldn't find a good solution of this problem and I had to find my way... so I hope you'll like it :)
Works perfect for me with any number of nested directories and sub directories. Caution for the scope of 'this' when recursing the function, your implementation may be different. In my case this function stays into the return of another function that's why I am calling it with this.
const fs = require('fs');
deleteFileOrDir(path, pathTemp = false){
if (fs.existsSync(path)) {
if (fs.lstatSync(path).isDirectory()) {
var files = fs.readdirSync(path);
if (!files.length) return fs.rmdirSync(path);
for (var file in files) {
var currentPath = path + "/" + files[file];
if (!fs.existsSync(currentPath)) continue;
if (fs.lstatSync(currentPath).isFile()) {
fs.unlinkSync(currentPath);
continue;
}
if (fs.lstatSync(currentPath).isDirectory() && !fs.readdirSync(currentPath).length) {
fs.rmdirSync(currentPath);
} else {
this.deleteFileOrDir(currentPath, path);
}
}
this.deleteFileOrDir(path);
} else {
fs.unlinkSync(path);
}
}
if (pathTemp) this.deleteFileOrDir(pathTemp);
}

Answer 28

2020 Answer
If you want to do it in a npm script, You DON'T need to previously install any 3rd party package if you use the command npx
If for example, you want to delete the folders dist and .cache when you run npm run clean then just add this command to your package.json
{
"scripts": {
"clean": "npx rimraf dist .cache"
}
}
It will work in any operative system

Answer 29

Another alternative is using the fs-promise module that provides promisified versions of the fs-extra modules
you could then write like this example:
const { remove, mkdirp, writeFile, readFile } = require('fs-promise')
const { join, dirname } = require('path')
async function createAndRemove() {
const content = 'Hello World!'
const root = join(__dirname, 'foo')
const file = join(root, 'bar', 'baz', 'hello.txt')
await mkdirp(dirname(file))
await writeFile(file, content)
console.log(await readFile(file, 'utf-8'))
await remove(join(__dirname, 'foo'))
}
createAndRemove().catch(console.error)
note: async/await requires a recent nodejs version (7.6+)

Answer 30

I wish there was a way to do this without additional modules for something so minuscule and common, but this is the best I could come up with.
Update:
Should now work on Windows (tested Windows 10), and should also work on Linux/Unix/BSD/Mac systems.
const
execSync = require("child_process").execSync,
fs = require("fs"),
os = require("os");
let removeDirCmd, theDir;
removeDirCmd = os.platform() === 'win32' ? "rmdir /s /q " : "rm -rf ";
theDir = __dirname + "/../web-ui/css/";
// WARNING: Do not specify a single file as the windows rmdir command will error.
if (fs.existsSync(theDir)) {
console.log(' removing the ' + theDir + ' directory.');
execSync(removeDirCmd + '"' + theDir + '"', function (err) {
console.log(err);
});
}