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Declutter your PC and remove all of your empty directories with this handy tool
Over time, as you install and uninstall programs, or move files from one folder to another, your Windows PC can accumulate a large amount of empty folders. These directories, though harmless, can unnecessarily clutter your system and make it challenging to find what you really need. Therefore, it is always a good idea to regularly check for such folders and delete them in order to maintain efficient storage on your device.
Manually searching for empty folders across your device can be difficult, especially when numerous folders are nested under the main app folders. That is where the Remove Empty Directories (RED) app comes to the rescue. It is pretty straightforward to install and use RED to locate and delete empty directories on Windows OS. But first, let's discuss what it is and how it can help.
How to clean and speed up your Windows PC
If your Windows PC is starting to feel slow over time, these tips can help you get some performance back.
What is the Remove Empty Directories (RED) app?
RED is an application specifically designed to scan your system for empty folders and delete them, saving you the trouble of manually performing this task. It is a pretty lightweight and no-nonsense application developed by an independent software developer, Jonas John. Here are its key features:
- The user-friendly interface makes it easy for users of every level to use the application without any trouble
- It comes with a portable version that you can carry with your external drive
- There is an option to exclude folders in the scan
- It can be integrated directly into the File Explorer context menu
- It offers the option to skip system directories
- There are multiple delete modes (including completely delete, delete to recycle bin, and more)
- It gives the option to ignore hidden folders
- It automatically creates logs
- It features unique icons for each folder type, making detection easy
The application is freeware, and though the last stable update date was February 2011, it works perfectly with Windows 10 and 11. The developer also released a beta version in 2021.
How to install and use the RED app to delete empty folders
Download and install the Remove Empty Directories tool
You can download and install the RED app on Windows just like you would install any other third-party app. Here are the steps.
- Launch your web browser and visit the official RED app download page. Its basically the personal website of the developer.
- Scroll down and look for the stable or portable version of the app to download. There are two installer options: Normal Edition for regular users and Admin Edition for administrators. Even if you are just using it on your own PC, I would still suggest that you download the Admin Edition for better control. Do not go for the beta version, as the stable version works perfectly.
- Next, after the installer is downloaded, run it and follow the on-screen steps to install the app.
- After the installation is completed, check the Launch Remove Empty Directories option and click Finish to open the app.
How to use Remove Empty Directories
After completing the installation, you can follow the steps below to use it to do the job.
- After launching the app, you will find three sections in tabs: Scan, Settings, and About. Before using the app, you should first switch to the Settings section to configure it.
- Under the Settings section, you can configure the following:
- Expand the drop-down menu and select Delete Mode. By default, the folders are deleted to the Recycle Bin, but you can set it to delete them directly for greater efficiency when purging them.
- Enable options like Directories with 0 KB files are counted as empty, Ignore hidden folders, Skip system directories, Ignore errors during deletion, and more.
- Insert file patterns that need to be ignored. Folders containing files with these patterns will be considered empty.
- Insert the directory path that you want to be ignored from the scan, if any.
- Integrate RED into the Explorer context menu.
- Adjust other advanced options, if desired.
- After configuring the settings, switch to the Scan section and click the Browse button to select the directory to scan. You can even choose to scan the whole drive or just a specific folder inside it.
- Next, click the Scan Folders button at the bottom to begin scanning.
- The app will start scanning for any empty folders.
- Depending on the size of the directory you selected, it could take some time. In my case, it took 4 minutes and 36 seconds to finish the scan of about 70 GB of data. It found 84,466 empty directories.
- Before deleting all the empty directories, glance through them once and check if there is any folder you want to exclude.
- If you find a folder that you want to exempt only for now, right-click on it and select Protect Once from the list.
- Or, if you find a folder that you never want to delete and also want to exclude it from future scans, right-click on it and select the Add to ignore list option.
- Finally, after reviewing the scanned folders, click the Delete Folders button at the bottom to delete all the empty directories searched by the Remove Empty Directories app. Again, it would take some time, depending on the number of empty folders.
Note that only the directories marked in red will be deleted. The gray-marked folders are the system folders that wont be touched, and the blue-marked ones have been manually protected by you and also will not be touched.
Keep your PC tidy with RED
Decluttering a PC is a big task, and it becomes even more challenging when you have to do it manually. However, efficiency tools like RED save you time and effort by performing such tedious tasks effortlessly. It will be ideal for you if you like to get rid of empty, redundant folders and speed up the navigation on your Windows system. Just ensure to use it periodically to keep your PC junk-free.
