Batch script for deleting user specific App Data Folder

Question

I am new to scripting and not having that much knowledge about scripting.

I searching for the batch script that can be used for cache/temp files deletion from all users specific folders.

I have created below batch script by doing internet searches but it is not working as expected. It is working file till inputs and user name inputs but after that exits directly.

@Echo off

:A
cls
set /p menu="Do you want to delete Temp File ? (Y/N): "
if %menu%==Y goto Yes
if %menu%==y goto Yes
if %menu%==N goto No
if %menu%==n goto No

cls
set /p exit="Press any key to continue!... "
goto A

:Yes
set /p Username="Please insert user name : "
del /s /f /q C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername
echo %Username%
exit

:No
cls
echo.
echo Okay, let's exit...
echo.
exit

Thanks

Answer 1

For starters, you need to use the RD (remove directory) command instead of del (delete). Temporarily add in a pause command so that the script stops and that you can see what error message it produces.

:Yes
set /p Username="Please insert user name : "
echo %Username%
rd /s /q C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername
pause
exit

If that works for you then great. Beyond that I would recommend using Powershell instead of .bat files. You will be much better positioned for future support tasks.

One major flaw in your code is that do not have any error handling. You blindly issue a delete for a folder. Well, what if the user enters the wrong username? You don't test to see if the folder exists or if the delete was successful.

I don't know what your programming background is, but it appears that you might benefit from taking some programming courses.

Answer 2

Powershell is a good place to start. Win10 comes with Powershell_ise.exe which is a decent development tool for writing and debugging scripts.

To get started, here is a good reference/training document.

https://www.sapien.com/books_training/Windows-PowerShell-4

Some info on ISE.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/windows-powershell/ise/introducing-the-windows-powershell-ise?view=powershell-7.1

MS documentation.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/how-to-use-docs?view=powershell-5.1

Here is your script written in PS. Load it into Powershell_ise and play with it.

cls  
while ($true) {                        # infinite loop that we will break out of  
    $menu = Read-Host "Do you want to delete Temp File ? (Y/N): "  
    if ($menu -match "n") {       # we have a no  
        write-host "Okay, let's exit..."   
        start-sleep 5             # if we are running as a .ps1 file, delay a bit so that the user can see our message   
        break                     # break out of the while loop to finish   
    }   
    if ($menu -match "y") {       # we have a yes  
        $Username = Read-Host "Please insert user name : "  
        if ($Username -eq "") {                                   # validate inout  
            Write-Host "Username cannot be blank."  
            continue                                              # loop again   
        }  
        $TargetDir = "C:\Users\" + $username + "\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername"  
        write-host "Checking $TargetDir"  
        if (Test-Path $TargetDir) {                                # verify that the folder exists                        
            write-host "The folder exists, attempting delete...."  
            try {                                                                           # we want to handle errors   
                Remove-Item -Path $TargetDir -Recurse -ErrorAction Stop                     # remove all subfolders too  
                Write-Host "Success!"  
            }  
            catch {                                                                         # something didn't work   
                Write-Host "Error!!! We crashed!!!"  
                Write-Host $_.ErrorDetails.Message   
            }  
        } else {  
            write-host "That folder does not exist, try again...."   
        }           
        continue                  # loop again   
    }  
    Write-host "Input not recognized. Please make a valid choice."            # user did not enter y/n   
}  
  

Answer 3

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

I would like to suggest you to use Powershell instead of Batch as Batch scripting is legacy and you may not able use all features of it

Kindly have a look on below Powershell script to cleanup temp folders using PS from Microsoft DevBlogs.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/weekend-scripter-use-powershell-to-clean-out-temp-folders/

If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer.

Thanks,

PRAKASH T

Answer 4

can we add multiple folder path in below statement like this if we have multiple subfolder under main folder like as below

I like to say that "programming is an art". By that I mean that; in a lot of cases, there are different ways to accomplish a given task with code. A lot depends on what you are trying to accomplish, how much error checking is required, do you need to interact with a user, etc.

So yes, you could create an array of folder names and send that via a pipeline to a Remove-Item cmdlet, But given the starting point of your .bat file code, you might want to use an array and a function like this.

$FolderList = @("\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername1",
                "\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername2",
                "\AppData\Local\foldername\subfoldername3")

Function FolderKiller ($pThisFolder) {                           # the folder name is a positional parameter  
    write-host "Checking $pThisFolder"
    if (Test-Path $pThisFolder) {                                # verify that the folder exists                      
        write-host "The folder exists, attempting delete...."
        try {                                                                           # we want to handle errors 
            Remove-Item -Path $pThisFolder -Recurse -ErrorAction Stop                     # remove all subfolders too
            Write-Host "Success!"
        }
        catch {                                                                         # something didn't work 
            Write-Host "Error!!! We crashed!!!"
            Write-Host $_.ErrorDetails.Message 
        }
    } else {
        write-host "That folder does not exist, try again...." 
    }     
}


cls
while ($true) {                        # infinite loop that we will break out of
    $menu = Read-Host "Do you want to delete Temp File ? (Y/N): "
    if ($menu -match "n") {       # we have a no
        write-host "Okay, let's exit..." 
        start-sleep 5             # if we are running as a .ps1 file, delay a bit so that the user can see our message 
        break                     # break out of the while loop to finish 
    } 
    if ($menu -match "y") {       # we have a yes
        $Username = Read-Host "Please insert user name : "
        if ($Username -eq "") {                                   # validate inout
            Write-Host "Username cannot be blank."
            continue                                              # loop again 
        }
        foreach ($fldr in $FolderList) {                           # we want to delete multiple folders for this user 
            $TargetDir = "C:\Users\" + $username + $fldr 
            FolderKiller $TargetDir                                # Call our delete function and pass it the name of the folder
        }    
    } else {
        Write-host "Input not recognized. Please make a valid choice."            # user did not enter y/n 
    }
}