RemoveDirectory function (Windows)

Applies to: desktop apps | Metro style apps

Deletes an existing empty directory.

To perform this operation as a transacted operation, use the RemoveDirectoryTransacted function.

Syntax

BOOL WINAPI RemoveDirectory(
  __in  LPCTSTR lpPathName
);

Parameters

lpPathName [in]

The path of the directory to be removed. This path must specify an empty directory, and the calling process must have delete access to the directory.

In the ANSI version of this function, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to 32,767 wide characters, call the Unicode version of the function and prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see Naming a File.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The RemoveDirectory function marks a directory for deletion on close. Therefore, the directory is not removed until the last handle to the directory is closed.

To recursively delete the files in a directory, use the SHFileOperation function.

RemoveDirectory removes a directory junction, even if the contents of the target are not empty; the function removes directory junctions regardless of the state of the target object. For more information on junctions, see Hard Links and Junctions.

Requirements

See also

CreateDirectory

Creating and Deleting Directories

Directory Management Functions

RemoveDirectoryTransacted

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Build date: 4/17/2012