Delete empty folders

This tools helps to detect empty folders on given directory.

Folder to check

Specify the folder to analyze.

Ignore this

If checked, will ignore specified files on next field. You may enter several files separated with semicolon ( ).

Specified files will be ignored when scanning for empty folders.

On next field, you define the files that will be ignored when Comparator Fast looks if a folder is empty. This is only used when Ignore this is enabled.

The default files to ignore are 3 (separated by semicolon):

 Thumbs.db; desktop.ini; Comparator Fast Hashes.ini

Thumbs.db        

Windows thumbs database. It is created by Windows to show faster thumbs of images.  This file can be ignored.

desktop.ini        

Windows file to define settings for a folder. If folder only have this file (or any other  ignored file), then this file is not longer needed.

Comparator Fast Hashes.ini

This file is used by Comparator Fast for Windows to save hashes of larger files to save time when comparing. If folder only have this or any other ignored file, the hashes database is not longer necessary.

If Ignore this is enabled, a folder will be considered empty by Comparator Fast if that folder is empty or if only have any specified ignored files as contents.

You may specified wildcards.

Example:

 If you specify *.tmp as a file to be ignored, if Comparator Fast is checking if a folder is empty, all files matching *,tmp will be ignored. This means, you may have thousands of files with .tmp extension on a folder, but all will be ignored and folder is considered empty. If any other file is found (not defined as ignored), folder is not removed automatically.

Check this option if you want to show non-empty folders on results. Is recommended to keep unchecked, to keep results clear for your final choice.

Ignore empty files

Sometimes you have folders with unnecessary empty files. If this is your case, check this option to ignore also empty files (zero bytes). Caution: some programs can create and need files with zero bytes, please ensure files/folders are no longer needed before using this option.

TEST MODE

If you check this option, the  process is only in test mode, this means, no folder is actually deleted. You may notice what folders will be deleted if you hit Delete button.

Log will show [TEST MODE] if enabled. If you are satisfied, you need to Refresh to get results again and then uncheck Test mode to perform task.

Look Folder / Refresh

Starts the analysis and shows proper results based on parameters.

Empty folders will be automatically checked on results. If an empty folder belongs to a non-empty folder, only the empty one is checked, parent folder will be partially checked just to show you this. Partially checked and unchecked folders will not be processed.

Delete

Will process all checked folders. Comparator Fast will only allow to delete empty folders based on parameters (if you choose to Ignore Files, if a folder contains only ignored files, folder can be deleted).

The Delete buttons is automatically disabled if you cancel the scan (partial results are not safe), or if you change any used parameter. If you need to change a parameter, just do it and hit Refresh button.

If accidentally changed a parameter, there is no need to do a Refresh, just set the changed parameter back.

NOTE: even if you check an empty or non-empty folder, if you choose Delete, each checked folder will be re-analyzed before deletion. Only empty folders (based on parameters) will be processed.

If you check a folder which contains empty sub-folders, the sub-folders are also removed even if not checked.

Example of results:

[X] Main files

      [  ]  Sub-main files

      [  ]  Alternate files

If you hit Delete and "Main files" and sub-folders are empty, Comparator Fast will remove "Main files" and all empty sub-folders too. This is an Operating System task, is not shown on Log with details about unchecked sub-folders, only checked items are logged and processed individually.

Details of process may be found on Log.

You may process items on results. Right-click on a result and select your choice, for example:

See also: Log.