Show delete confirmation dialog on Windows 8.1 / 10 when delete file!

The solution is simple to Display delete confirmation dialog in Windows-8.1 and 10 when delete files or folder in Windows!

1.) Solution 1: to open Recycle Bin Folder Properties via MS-EXPLORER!

To show the delete confirmation when delete e.g. move the files to Recycle Bin, please start the Ms Explorer [Windows-E].

Use Right-Mouse-Click on Recycle and select Properties (. see Image-1 Arrow-1)

And Activate the Check-Box: Display delete confirmation dialog (. see Image-1 Arrow-2)

(Image-1) Turn off/on the delete confirmation dialog in Windows-8.1 when delete file!

Important and Useful info from (c) Microsoft!

When you delete a file, it gets moved to the Recycle Bin, where it’s stored temporarily. Think of the Recycle Bin as a safety net that allows you to recover files or folders that you might have accidentally deleted. To open the Recycle Bin in File Explorer, enter Recycle Bin in the address bar.

Occasionally, you should empty the Recycle Bin to reclaim all of the storage space being used by files you don’t need anymore. To empty the Recycle Bin, right-click or press and hold it, and then tap or click Empty Recycle Bin.

2.) Solution 2: to open Recycle Bin Folder Properties via run command!

Pleas RUN command shell:RecycleBinFolder to open the Recycle in Windows 8.1 and right click in empty place in Explorer View!

(Image-2) Show Recycle Bin Properties in Windows-8.1!

Info (c) Microsoft

The Recycle Bin has two different appearances: one when it’s empty, and one when it has files or folders inside. You can customize the appearance of the Recycle Bin by changing one or both of these icons.

How To Enable Delete Confirmation Dialog In Windows 10

Last Updated on April 5, 2019 by admin 63 Comments

If you have installed and using Windows 8 or the latest Windows 10 operating system, you probably have noticed that your Windows 10 or Windows 8 doesn’t show a delete confirmation dialog with default settings. That is, when you select a file/folder and hit the delete key, Windows doesn’t prompt a confirmation box.

Why turn on the delete confirmation box in Windows?

Although some users might like this new feature as one can easily delete a file or folder quickly and easily, at times, the new feature doesn’t stop users from accidentally deleting a file.

Even though Microsoft has disabled delete confirmation box when deleting a file to the Recycle Bin, you still get the same confirmation box when you try to delete a file permanently using Shift + Delete hotkey.

When the delete confirmation prompt is enabled and working, you will see a confirmation dialog asking “Are you sure you want to move these files to Recycle Bin?” even if you try to move the file to the Recycle Bin. Many users like to see a confirmation box before deleting a file or folder in Windows 10 or Windows 8.

To enable the delete confirmation box in Windows 10 or Windows 8, follow the steps given below.

Enable the delete confirmation box in Windows 10 or Windows 8.1

Step 1: On your Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 desktop, make sure that desktop icons are visible. If not, right-click on the desktop, click View, and then click Show desktop icons to view all desktop icons.

Step 2: Right-click on the Recycle Bin and then select Properties to open Recycle Bin Properties dialog box.

Step 3: Under the General tab, check the option named Display delete confirmation dialog. Click Apply button before closing Recycle Bin Properties dialog box.

From now on, Windows 10 will display a confirmation dialog when you try to delete an item to Recycle Bin. And if you don’t love the default icon used for Recycle Bin in Windows 10, you can easily set a nice looking icon for it by following the easy instructions in our how to change the default icon of Recycle Bin in Windows 10 guide.

Enable Delete Confirmation in Windows 10

In Windows 10, when the user is deleting a file or a folder, there is no confirmation prompt appearing on the screen. Instead, the File Explorer app directly sends the selected objects to the Recycle Bin. If you are not happy with this behavior, you can change it. Here is how it can be done.

Some users (including me) like the default behavior. I prefer my files to be deleted as fast as possible. I do not want to see any confirmation dialog because even if I delete something accidentally, I can always open my Recycle Bin folder and restore my files. Usually I delete a lot of files like temporary app projects, Registry files, text files with notes and so on, so confirmations annoy me.

Other users prefer to see a confirmation. They consider it a safe option, because the Delete key can be pressed inadvertently. Sometimes, inexperienced users may never even realize that an item was deleted or more than 1 item was accidentally deleted.

While the delete confirmation prompt is disabled by default, you can quickly restore it.

To enable the delete confirmation in Windows 10, do the following.

Find the Recycle Bin icon in File Explorer. Usually, it is located right on your Desktop, so it is not a big problem to find it.

Right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties in the context menu to open the Recycle Bin Properties window.

On the General tab, see the option Display delete confirmation dialog. Tick the checkbox and then click on the Apply button to make the changes take effect.

This will make Windows 10 display the confirmation dialog when you are deleting a file or a folder with File Explorer.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

9 thoughts on “ Enable Delete Confirmation in Windows 10 ”

win 7 games will not install in win 10 redstone anniversary,tried several times but always fails with several abort messages

Thanks it was helpfull.

thank you very mach

thanks… it works

minor typo: in 3rd paragraph “inexperience users” should be “inexperienced users.” Thanks for tip on setting the delete confirmation.

Thanks, updated the post.

Thanks for this post.
Separate from Recycle Bin: When I am connected to an external drive (my Android phone, connected via USB in “File Transfer” mode), I can view, copy and delete files (e.g. photos) on that drive. However, when I delete files on my phone, I don’t get any confirmation dialog! This is a case where I definitely want confirmation, because there is no Recycle Bin — the files are gone forever. Any thoughts? I am running Windows 10 Home. (I can’t see what exact release 🙁 , but I believe it is up to date.)

That’s because your phone is connected via Media Transfer Protocol. It works not like an external drive, it is a different thing.

Thank you for the instructions – and for calling me “inexperienced user” 🙂

I consider it the safer option, because sometimes things happen out of one’s control.
I don’t consider myself paranoid, but given that Windows 10 no longer seems to provide satisfactory colour schemes for easy distinguishing between windows in focus and background windows, I can easily imagine files being accidentally deleted at some point without me noticing. Especially as I am working on multiple screens and use keyboards with different layouts at different workplaces. So I got the creeps when I realised this dialog box was not default in my new windows machine. I believe the dialog box will substantially reduce the risk of this type of catastrophes happening, so I am glad you shared your knowledge 🙂

As for deleting files as fast as possible, why not just press Delete (or Shift+Delete if you are really sure), quickly followed by Enter? I’m fine with that.

Make Windows 10 to display Delete Confirmation dialog

Last updated on December 2, 2019 By Venkat

If you use Windows 7 instead of Windows 8, you can notice Windows 10 too doesn’t display a confirmation dialog when you delete a file or folder, this is normal and is the default behavior in Windows 8 and 8.1, and Microsoft has implemented the same in latest Windows Operating system also. If you want Windows 10 to display the confirmation dialog when you remove a file or folder, you’ve to follow the steps mentioned below.

Set Windows 10 to display delete confirmation dialog

1. Right-click on the Recycle Bin on the desktop, select Properties

2. Select ‘Display delete confirmation dialog’ and click ‘OK’.

It’s always good to see the confirmation warning on the screen, as even advanced users may accidentally delete files, which will be helpful in those situations.

Do you want Windows to warn you when you attempt to delete a file or want it to go directly to recycle bin? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Do you want Windows to warn you when you attempt to delete a file or want it go to recycle bin directly?

As a IT support, I would like it to warn first before move to recycle bin. I can’t imagine if without warning, how many users have to call IT that they suddenly lost files on Windows Desktop and “DONT KNOW” why the files ended in recycle bin. You know.. some users will never admit they mistake and keeps blaming their systems have problems.

Why would Microsoft want to implement this in the first place? I don’t see any benefit of removing the warning..

Venkat eswarlu says

Thi, this is the default behavior in Windows 8, since Windows 10 is based on it, that has been carried into and you shouldn’t be surprised at this.

bob stephenson says

thats not the question. why was it impleemnted to being. it is dumb and moronic.

Venkat eswarlu says

You guys should’ve asked this question to Microsoft 4 years ago when Windows 8 was launched.

Claire Todd says

Well, not if we had never experienced Windows 8. How would we have known they were going to be that stupid. Because it is just plain STUPID. Everyone wants a warning before they lose something forever.

I was stunned when I accidentally hit delete and got no warning. (Recently upgraded to 10 from Microsoft 7). My concern is that, when I followed the easy instructions provided here, my checkbox for the warning is already checked. Like someone else mentioned, I might accidentally delete and not know it is gone until I begin to look for it down the road. Yikes!!

THANK YOU
I deleted things accidentally more than once because I was so used to the prompt from windows 7. What a dumb feature to not automatically have set, glad someone knew how to set it.

i dont have that option!

Venkat eswarlu says

I can still see the option for Recycle Bin on my computer, which version or build of Windows 10 you’re using?

Thanks, this was hugely helpful. I cannot believe Microsoft would have the delete confirmation off by default. How many times do we all accidentally hit “delete” when we’re working fast?? So pleased there is an easy fix.

T. O. Muller says

Personally, I just LOVE having a “second” chance to consider my ‘accidental’ delete selection when I right-click on my mouse while dealing with file movement, so “yes !”, I want the delete confirmation in place at ALL times as a reminder I might have made a mistake in my data handling !!

Keith Parker says

I want the delete confirmation because sometimes I hit the file above and the wrong file is deleted and you don’t know until you go to find it. It should be on by default. can Microsoft fix this in an update?.

Venkat eswarlu says

No this is the default behavior offered in older Windows 8, Microsoft made that default in Windows 10 too. User who want the confirmation dialog to appear before deleting a file, should need to make change on their systems themselves.

Claire Todd says

What they explain about changing the Recycle Bin setting WORKS. Happy Days, I created a test file, did the right click to get the menu, hit “delete” and it came up and asked “Are you sure you want to move this file to the Recycle Bin.” Hallelujah !! LOL

Enabling Confirmation by checking the box in Recycle Bin properties ONLY gives a confirmation dialogue if you use the DEL keyboard key to do the deletion. If you use the right click menu and choose Delete accidentally, instead of copy or move or some other choice, you will NOT get a confirmation dialogue. Your folder or file will be deleted immediately… GONE.

This happens in certain folders such as C:\Windows but not in other folders like those in my user area

Excellent Thank a lot.

I dont know how many files i have deleted till now.

I think Windows 10 behaves randomly about this. It is a bug. The delete confirmation is set for me to ask before delete. Still it permanently delete a file without any confirmation when I selected a wrong file by mistake. Later when I wanted to test this feature with a dummy file, it asked for confirmation whether I pressed Delete or Shift+Delete. The bad thing is that it turned up asking for a useless file but didn’t ask for a very important document that I lost 🙁

Venkat eswarlu says

Are u using the latest stable or public version 1511 build 10586.420? Or an insider one. If you’re using public build, anniversary update coming on this August 2 may fix it. But I’ve not faced this issue on my Windows 10 computer you’re talking.

Ken White (programmer) says

The ‘Are you sure?” (12 ms after clicking the button) mentality is lazy. For the sake of good user experience, programmers/managers need to think in the ‘Undo’ mindset.

So relating that to this situation:

If the file is heading for the Recycle Bin, it can be easily recovered (undone). There’s no need for an explicit confirmation. It would be nice to show an alert telling inexperienced users that it went to the Recycler until they learned that.

If the file is being deleted, there’s no guarantee that the user can get the file back (even with good recovery software). This situation does require a pause to think. A dialog is acceptable here. (Although a better way would be a type of Recycler that purged this type of file at log-off or with an explicit purge.)

When a dialog, then the warning should have a distinctive icon so the user can instantly recognise what is happening. Many users don’t fully read dialogs and habitually click ‘OK’. That’s where some of the ‘user’ problems mentioned above occur.

Stanislava Georgieva says

You rock!
Thank you guys! The lapse of this second confirmation was annoying.

you ask: “Do you want Windows to warn you when you attempt to delete a file or want it go to recycle bin directly?”
I most certainly do want to be warned when I attempt to delete a file. I was appalled when I wasn’t asked. In my search to have verification before I delete a file I found you. And I thank you for your reply.