[php] Deleting all files from a folder using PHP?

For example I had a folder called `Temp' and I wanted to delete or flush all files from this folder using PHP. Could I do this?

Posted a general purpose file and folder handling class for copy, move, delete, calculate size, etc., that can handle a single file or a set of folders.

https://gist.github.com/4689551

To use:

To copy (or move) a single file or a set of folders/files:

$files = new Files();
$results = $files->copyOrMove('source/folder/optional-file', 'target/path', 'target-file-name-for-single-file.only', 'copy');

Delete a single file or all files and folders in a path:

$files = new Files();
$results = $files->delete('source/folder/optional-file.name');

Calculate the size of a single file or a set of files in a set of folders:

$files = new Files();
$results = $files->calculateSize('source/folder/optional-file.name');

Assuming you have a folder with A LOT of files reading them all and then deleting in two steps is not that performing. I believe the most performing way to delete files is to just use a system command.

For example on linux I use :

exec('rm -f '. $absolutePathToFolder .'*');

Or this if you want recursive deletion without the need to write a recursive function

exec('rm -f -r '. $absolutePathToFolder .'*');

the same exact commands exists for any OS supported by PHP. Keep in mind this is a PERFORMING way of deleting files. $absolutePathToFolder MUST be checked and secured before running this code and permissions must be granted.

$dir = 'your/directory/';
foreach(glob($dir.'*.*') as $v){
    unlink($v);
}

This code from http://php.net/unlink:

/**
 * Delete a file or recursively delete a directory
 *
 * @param string $str Path to file or directory
 */
function recursiveDelete($str) {
    if (is_file($str)) {
        return @unlink($str);
    }
    elseif (is_dir($str)) {
        $scan = glob(rtrim($str,'/').'/*');
        foreach($scan as $index=>$path) {
            recursiveDelete($path);
        }
        return @rmdir($str);
    }
}

I've built a really simple package called "Pusheh". Using it, you can clear a directory or remove a directory completely (Github link). It's available on Packagist, also.

For instance, if you want to clear Temp directory, you can do:

Pusheh::clearDir("Temp");

// Or you can remove the directory completely
Pusheh::removeDirRecursively("Temp");

If you're interested, see the wiki.

foreach (new DirectoryIterator('/path/to/directory') as $fileInfo) {
    if(!$fileInfo->isDot()) {
        unlink($fileInfo->getPathname());
    }
}

unlinkr function recursively deletes all the folders and files in given path by making sure it doesn't delete the script itself.

function unlinkr($dir, $pattern = "*") {
    // find all files and folders matching pattern
    $files = glob($dir . "/$pattern"); 

    //interate thorugh the files and folders
    foreach($files as $file){ 
    //if it is a directory then re-call unlinkr function to delete files inside this directory     
        if (is_dir($file) and !in_array($file, array('..', '.')))  {
            echo "<p>opening directory $file </p>";
            unlinkr($file, $pattern);
            //remove the directory itself
            echo "<p> deleting directory $file </p>";
            rmdir($file);
        } else if(is_file($file) and ($file != __FILE__)) {
            // make sure you don't delete the current script
            echo "<p>deleting file $file </p>";
            unlink($file); 
        }
    }
}

if you want to delete all files and folders where you place this script then call it as following

//get current working directory
$dir = getcwd();
unlinkr($dir);

if you want to just delete just php files then call it as following

unlinkr($dir, "*.php");

you can use any other path to delete the files as well

unlinkr("/home/user/temp");

This will delete all files in home/user/temp directory.

For me, the solution with readdir was best and worked like a charm. With glob, the function was failing with some scenarios.

// Remove a directory recursively
function removeDirectory($dirPath) {
    if (! is_dir($dirPath)) {
        return false;
    }

    if (substr($dirPath, strlen($dirPath) - 1, 1) != '/') {
        $dirPath .= '/';
    }

    if ($handle = opendir($dirPath)) {

        while (false !== ($sub = readdir($handle))) {
            if ($sub != "." && $sub != ".." && $sub != "Thumb.db") {
                $file = $dirPath . $sub;

                if (is_dir($file)) {
                    removeDirectory($file);
                } else {
                    unlink($file);
                }
            }
        }

        closedir($handle);
    }

    rmdir($dirPath);
}

public static function recursiveDelete($dir)
{
    foreach (new \DirectoryIterator($dir) as $fileInfo) {
        if (!$fileInfo->isDot()) {
            if ($fileInfo->isDir()) {
                recursiveDelete($fileInfo->getPathname());
            } else {
                unlink($fileInfo->getPathname());
            }
        }
    }
    rmdir($dir);
}

 <?
//delete all files from folder  & sub folders
function listFolderFiles($dir)
{
    $ffs = scandir($dir);
    echo '<ol>';
    foreach ($ffs as $ff) {
        if ($ff != '.' && $ff != '..') {
            if (file_exists("$dir/$ff")) {
                unlink("$dir/$ff");
            }
            echo '<li>' . $ff;
            if (is_dir($dir . '/' . $ff)) {
                listFolderFiles($dir . '/' . $ff);
            }
            echo '</li>';
        }
    }
    echo '</ol>';
}
$arr = array(
    "folder1",
    "folder2"
);
for ($x = 0; $x < count($arr); $x++) {
    $mm = $arr[$x];
    listFolderFiles($mm);
}
//end
?> 

Here is a more modern approach using the Standard PHP Library (SPL).

$dir = "path/to/directory";
$di = new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($dir, FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS);
$ri = new RecursiveIteratorIterator($di, RecursiveIteratorIterator::CHILD_FIRST);
foreach ( $ri as $file ) {
    $file->isDir() ?  rmdir($file) : unlink($file);
}
return true;

Another solution: This Class delete all files, subdirectories and files in the sub directories.

class Your_Class_Name {
    /**
     * @see http://php.net/manual/de/function.array-map.php
     * @see http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.rmdir.php 
     * @see http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.glob.php
     * @see http://php.net/manual/de/function.unlink.php
     * @param string $path
     */
    public function delete($path) {
        if (is_dir($path)) {
            array_map(function($value) {
                $this->delete($value);
                rmdir($value);
            },glob($path . '/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR));
            array_map('unlink', glob($path."/*"));
        }
    }
}

The simple and best way to delete all files from a folder in PHP

$files = glob('my_folder/*'); //get all file names
foreach($files as $file){
    if(is_file($file))
    unlink($file); //delete file
}

Got this source code from here - http://www.codexworld.com/delete-all-files-from-folder-using-php/

See readdir and unlink.

<?php
    if ($handle = opendir('/path/to/files'))
    {
        echo "Directory handle: $handle\n";
        echo "Files:\n";

        while (false !== ($file = readdir($handle)))
        {
            if( is_file($file) )
            {
                unlink($file);
            }
        }
        closedir($handle);
    }
?>

If you want to delete everything from folder (including subfolders) use this combination of array_map, unlink and glob:

array_map( 'unlink', array_filter((array) glob("path/to/temp/*") ) );

This call can also handle empty directories ( thanks for the tip, @mojuba!)

I updated the answer of @Stichoza to remove files through subfolders.

function glob_recursive($pattern, $flags = 0) {
    $fileList = glob($pattern, $flags);
    foreach (glob(dirname($pattern).'/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR|GLOB_NOSORT) as $dir) {
        $subPattern = $dir.'/'.basename($pattern);
        $subFileList = glob_recursive($subPattern, $flags);
        $fileList = array_merge($fileList, $subFileList);
    }
    return $fileList;
}

function glob_recursive_unlink($pattern, $flags = 0) {
    array_map('unlink', glob_recursive($pattern, $flags));
}