Delete files from vba excel

In VBA, we can delete any file present in the computer using VBA codes. The code used to delete files is known as the “Kill” command. The method to delete any file is that first, we must provide the file’s path, which means the file’s location on the computer. Then, we use the “Kill” command to delete the file.

How to Delete Files using VBA Code?

VBA is a tough thing initially, but as you spend more time with VBA, you will start loving it just like me. We can open files from another computer folder and work with them. Now, we can delete files as well by using VBA coding. This article will show you how to delete files using VBA code in a specific folder.

When working with large projects, we usually create many intermediate files to support our process. we need to delete those files to avoid future confusion after completing the work.

And one scenario is when we usually receive an email. For example, we save attachments for our regular work, or we want to see the report for that point in time, and later we may need to delete those files.

Deleting those files manually may take time, or we may forget to save them. In addition, it will occupy the space on our computer. Therefore, we will show you how to delete those files with simple VBA codesVBA code refers to a set of instructions written by the user in the Visual Basic Applications programming language on a Visual Basic Editor (VBE) to perform a specific task.read more.

Kill Method to Delete Files in a Folder using VBA Code

A simple Kill function will delete the folder, specific file, all Excel files, etc. Take a look at the syntax of the Kill method in VBA. The Kill method cannot delete read-only files.

Path Name: Pathname is nothing but the folder path in the computer to delete the files.

Note: Path Name can include wildcard characters as well. We can use an asterisk (*) and question marks (?) as wildcard characters in excelIn Excel, wildcards are the three special characters asterisk, question mark, and tilde. Asterisk denotes multiple characters, a question mark denotes a single character, and a tilde denotes the identification of a wild card character.read more.

Asterisk (*) is useful to match any length string. In addition, it also considers zero.

Question mark (?) is useful to match only a single character.

Delete Particular File Name

For example, we have a folder like the one below.

We want to delete the file named “File 5” in this folder. But, first, start the code with the Kill function.

Code:

Sub Delete_Files()

Kill(PathName)

End Sub

Copy and paste the folder path.

And Paste in double-quotes.

Kill "E:Excel Files"

Now put one more backward slash () and enter the file name with extension.

Kill "E:Excel FilesFile5.xlsx"

When you run this code, it will delete the file named “File 5.xlsx” in the mentioned folder path.

Delete All Excel Files

Using VBA, we need to use wildcard characters with the Kill function to delete all the Excel files in the folder. After mentioning the folder path, we need to mention the file as “*.xl*.”

Code:

Kill "E:Excel Files*.xl*"

When you run this code, it will delete all the Excel files in the folder.

We have seen how we can delete a single Excel file and all the Excel files. But if we want to delete all the files in the folder, how can we delete them? Also, since we are using Excel VBA, can it delete other files?

The answer is Yes! Use the below code to delete all the files in the folder.

Code:

Kill "E:Excel Files*.*"

Delete Entire Folder Only

Is it possible to delete the entire folder itself?

Yes, it is possible.

We need to delete all the files in the folder using the Kill function. Then to delete the folder, we need to use one more function called RmDir.

Code:

RmDir "E:Excel Files"

Here RmDir will delete only the empty folder if any subfolder is where it cannot delete them.

Delete All the Text Files in the Folder

To delete all the text files in the folder, use the below code.

Code:

Kill "E:Excel Files*.txt"

Delete Read-Only Files

As we said, the Kill function cannot delete “Read Only” files in the folder. In such a scenario, we need to use the other two functions: “Dir$” and “SetAttr.” Below is the example code to delete the read-only files as well.

Code:

Sub Delete_Files1()

Dim DeleteFile As String

DeleteFile = " E:Excel Files"

If Len(Dir$(DeleteFile)) > 0 Then

SetAttr DeleteFile, vbNormal

Kill DeleteFile
End If
End Sub

You can download this VBA Delete File Excel Template from here – VBA Delete File Excel Template.

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This article has been a guide to VBA Delete Files. Here, we discuss the VBA code to delete 1. Particular File Name, 2. All files, 3. Entire folder, and 4. Read-only Files with downloadable Excel template. Below are some useful articles related to VBA: –

• VBA InStr
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Introduction to VBA Delete File

Sometimes when we work in VBA we create some unwanted files, or we have some unwanted files on our computer. How do we get rid of them? We can simply go and delete each file manually by locating the file and right click on it then, we click on the delete button to delete the file. Or we can press the delete button from the keyboard to delete the file. But how do we do this in VBA is what we will learn in this article.

So now we have understood the concept of this topic that we need to delete a file by using VBA macros. In VBA, we have a kill command which is used to delete a file from its location. When we simply delete the file by going through the process of locating the file and right-clicking on it to delete or press the delete button even, the file goes to the recycle bin. But when we use the Kill command in VBA to delete a file the file is permanently deleted from the computer. It doesn’t go to the recycle bin. Now let us look at the syntax which we will be using to delete a file using VBA. It is as follows:

Syntax of Delete File in Excel VBA

String = “ Path of the File “
Kill String

Always remember that the path of the file should be in the inverted commas. Now to delete a file in VBA we must have its path. How do we get a path of the file? We need to right-click on the file and click on properties which give us different options for the properties of the file once we click on the security tab which is the second number in the tabs we can find the path location under the object name. Have a look at the screenshot below for reference.

The path written after the object name is the argument we need to feed for the killfile function in order to delete any file. Now let us start deleting files by looking at a few examples below.

Before we move to examples always ensure that we have the developer’s tab enabled in order to use macros. It is done by moving to the files section and then to the options section. We will find a checkbox that should be checked to enable the developer’s tab. Now let us move ahead to examples. For example, I have two files named sample 1 and sample 2. Both are text files and are on desktop. Have a look at them below.

How to Delete a File Using VBA?

Let’s see the examples of Delete File in Excel VBA.

You can download this VBA Delete File Excel Templates here – VBA Delete File Excel Templates

Example #1 – VBA Delete File

Let us first delete the sample 1 file in this example. Both the examples will have one minute difference which I will explain at the end of the topic. First, we need to get a path for the sample 1 file. In order to do that right click on the file and from the properties option go to security and we will find the path to beside the object name as follows.

Step 1: Now let us enter into VBA from the visual basic option. It can be found under the developer’s tab.

Step 2: Once we are in VBA we need to insert a module. To enter the code window double click on the module which will take us to the code window.

Step 3: Now the first step for writing a VBA code is to name the macro as follows.

Code:

Sub Sample()

End Sub

Step 4: Declare a variable as a string which will store the path for the file.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Dim KillFile As String

End Sub

Step 5: Now let us assign the path to this string of the file we want to delete which is sample1.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Dim KillFile As String
KillFile = "C:UsersCBA_amardeepDesktopSample1.txt"

End Sub

Step 6: Now let us delete the file using the Kill Function as follows.

Code:

Sub Sample()

Dim KillFile As String
KillFile = "C:UsersCBA_amardeepDesktopSample1.txt"
Kill KillFile

End Sub

Step 7: When we run the above code and look at the desktop we can no longer find the first text file we created.

Only the second file is present and the first file is moved. Now, what happens if the file path was wrong or the file didn’t even exist. Now we have deleted the first file and it didn’t even exist so we can run the code again to check what result we will get. Run the above code again.

VBA gives us a runtime error that the file is not found. This is important which we need to keep in mind.

Example #2 – VBA Delete File

Now let us delete the second file using the kill function. Again we need to have the path for the second file for which we need to right click on the file and from the properties option go to security and we will find the path to in beside the object name as follows.

Now we have the path for the second file so let us delete this file.

Step 1: Enter into VBA through the developer’s tab.

Step 2: Once we are in VBA we need to insert a module. To enter the code window double click on the module which will take us to the code window.

Step 3: Name the macro first in order to proceed further as follows.

Code:

Sub sample1()

End Sub

Step 4: Similar to above, declare a variable as a string to store the file’s path.

Code:

Sub sample1()

Dim KillFile As String

End Sub

Step 5: In the string store the path of the file as follows.

Code:

Sub sample1()

Dim KillFile As String
KillFile = "C:UsersCBA_amardeepDesktopSample2.txt"

End Sub

Step 6: Now we will check that the file even exists using the If function as follows.

Code:

Sub sample1()

Dim KillFile As String
KillFile = "C:UsersCBA_amardeepDesktopSample2.txt"
If Len(Dir$(KillFile)) > 0 Then
SetAttr KillFile, vbNormal
  Kill KillFile
  Else
MsgBox "File Not Found"
End If

End Sub

Step 7: Now if we run the above code we can see that the file has been deleted and it is no longer in the desktop.

Step 8: In above example, we have seen that if the file doesn’t exist VBA gives us an error also in this case as the file has been deleted we can run the code again and we can see that instead of the error we get a personalized message as follows.

Things to Remember

There are few things which we need to remember about deleting a file in VBA:

1. We use the Kill function to delete a file.
2. We need to have the path of the specific file which is to be deleted.
3. If the file is not found we encounter an error.
4. The files deleted by the Kill function do not go in the recycle bin.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to VBA Delete File. Here we discuss how to use Excel VBA Delete File along with few practical examples and downloadable excel template. You can also go through our other suggested articles –

1. VBA While Loop
2. VBA Remove Duplicates
3. VBA Data Types
4. VBA Sleep

VBA allows you to delete an existing file, using the Kill command. In this tutorial, you will learn how to delete a specific file or multiple files.

If you want to learn how to copy and rename a file, you can click on this link: VBA Copy File

Delete a Single File (or Workbook) in VBA

We will show how to delete the file Sample file 1.xlsx in the folder VBA Folder. The folder with the file now looks like in Image 1:

Image 1. Delete a single file

Here is the code which will delete the file:

Kill "C:VBA FolderSample File 1.xlsx"

After running the code, the file Sample file 1.xlsx is now deleted from the VBA Folder. The output is in Image 2:

Image 2. File deleted from the C:VBA Folder

Delete All Excel Files From the Folder

The same command enables you to delete all Excel files from the folder. You just need to put an asterisk (*) instead of the file name. An asterisk replaces any string. Here is the code:

Kill "C:VBA Folder*.xlsx"

As you can see in Image 3, all Excel files from Folder VBA are deleted:

Image 3. Delete all Excel files from the C:VBA Folder