Functions/GenXdev.FileSystem/Move-ToRecycleBin.ps1
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Part of PowerShell module : GenXdev.FileSystem Original cmdlet filename : Move-ToRecycleBin.ps1 Original author : René Vaessen / GenXdev Version : 1.264.2025 ################################################################################ MIT License Copyright 2021-2025 GenXdev Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. ################################################################################> ############################################################################### <# .SYNOPSIS Moves files and directories to the Windows Recycle Bin safely. .DESCRIPTION Safely moves files or directories to the recycle bin using the Windows Shell API, even if they are currently in use. The function uses the Shell.Application COM object to perform the operation, ensuring proper recycling behavior and undo capability. .PARAMETER Path One or more paths to files or directories that should be moved to the recycle bin. Accepts pipeline input and wildcards. The paths must exist and be accessible. .EXAMPLE Move-ToRecycleBin -Path "C:\temp\old-report.txt" Moves a single file to the recycle bin .EXAMPLE "file1.txt","file2.txt" | recycle Moves multiple files using pipeline and alias #> function Move-ToRecycleBin { [CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess)] [OutputType([bool])] [Alias('recycle')] param( ######################################################################## [Parameter( Mandatory = $true, Position = 0, ValueFromPipeline = $true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true, HelpMessage = 'Specify the path(s) to move to the recycle bin' )] [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [Alias('FullName')] [string[]]$Path ######################################################################## ) begin { # track overall success of operations $success = $true # initialize shell automation object for recycle bin operations $shellObj = $null try { $shellObj = Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Verbose 'Created Shell.Application COM object for recycle operations' } catch { Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Error "Failed to create Shell.Application COM object: $_" return $false } } process { foreach ($itemPath in $Path) { # convert relative or shorthand paths to full filesystem paths $fullPath = GenXdev.FileSystem\Expand-Path $itemPath Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Verbose "Processing path: $fullPath" try { # check if the target path actually exists before attempting to recycle if ([System.IO.File]::Exists($fullPath) -or ` [System.IO.Directory]::Exists($fullPath)) { # confirm the recycle operation with the user if ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess($fullPath, 'Move to Recycle Bin')) { # split the path into directory and filename for shell operation $dirName = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($fullPath) $fileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileName($fullPath) # get shell folder object for the directory containing the item $folderObj = $shellObj.Namespace($dirName) $fileObj = $folderObj.ParseName($fileName) # perform the recycle operation using shell verbs $fileObj.InvokeVerb('delete') Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Verbose "Successfully moved to recycle bin: $fullPath" } } else { Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Warning "Path not found: $fullPath" $success = $false } } catch { Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Error "Failed to recycle $fullPath : $_" $success = $false } } } end { # cleanup the COM object to prevent resource leaks try { [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($shellObj) | ` Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Out-Null Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Verbose 'Released Shell.Application COM object' } catch { Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Write-Warning "Failed to release COM object: $_" } return $success } } |