You can free up some drive storage space on your PC by erasing junk data with disk cleanup scans. However, sometimes users need to selectively delete unneeded user documents, images, music, and videos that are wasting storage space.

Most users will probably utilize File Explorer to erase their files, but there are various ways to selectively delete files in Windows 11. Here are six different ways you can delete files in Windows 11.

1. How to Delete Files With Keyboard Shortcuts

Most standard keywords include a Del (Delete) key on their top rows. Selecting a file in Explorer or on the desktop and pressing that Del key will erase it. You can also select multiple files to delete by pressing and holding the Ctrl key.

If you haven’t configured otherwise, pressing Del will move selected files to the Recycle Bin. However, you can combine Del and Shift keys to bypass the Recycle Bin and fully erase a selected file. Select a file, and press the Shift + Del keys at the same time. Then click Yes on the confirmation dialog box shown directly below.

The Delete File dialog box

2. How to Erase Files With File Explorer’s Delete Command Ribbon Option

Explorer is Windows 11’s file management tool that Microsoft has redesigned in the latest desktop platform. Now it includes a command ribbon from which you can select its options. You can erase files with the Delete option on Explorer’s command ribbon like this.

  1. Press Explorer’s handy Win + E keyboard shortcut.
  2. Open a folder that includes some files you need to delete.
  3. Select a file in the folder.
  4. Click the Delete option (trash can icon) on File Explorer’s ribbon.
The Delete button

3. How to Delete Files via the Context Menu

Windows 11’s right-click context menu also includes a Delete option. You can select that option to erase files on the desktop and from within Explorer’s window. Right-click a file to remove, and select the Delete option with the bin icon.

The context menu Delete option

4. How to Drag-and-Drop Files to the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin stores files that you select to delete. You can remove files by dragging and dropping them from Explorer’s window into the Recycle Bin. Left-click a file in Explorer and hold the left mouse button. Drag that file over the bin’s desktop icon, and release the left mouse button when you see a "Move to Recycle Bin" tooltip.

The Don't move files to the Recycle Bin option

Of course, files in the Recycle Bin aren’t truly deleted until you’ve emptied the bin. To clear the bin, double-click the Recycle Bin desktop icon. Select the Empty Recycle Bin option from there.

The Recycle Bin

By default, files go to the Recycle Bin when you select to delete them with File Explorer’s options or the Delete key. However, you can bypass the bin by changing its properties settings. Right-click the Recycle Bin desktop icon to select Properties, which opens the window shown directly below.

The Don't move files to the Recycle Bin option

That window includes a Don’t move files to the Recycle bin option. Select the Remove files immediately when deleted radio button to bypass the bin. You can also select a Display delete confirmation dialog setting there to activate an extra dialog box prompt for erasing files. Click Apply to save the new Recycle Bin options.

5. How to Delete Files With PowerShell or the Command Prompt

PowerShell and Command Prompt are two command-line shells included within the Windows Terminal app. You can delete files in both command-line shells by entering the same del command. That file deletion command permanently erases files instead of moving them to the Recycle Bin. This is how you can delete your files with either PowerShell or Command Prompt in Windows Terminal.

  1. Open the Power Menu by right-clicking the Start button (it also has a Win + X hotkey).
  2. Select the Windows Terminal (Admin) option on that menu.
  3. Click Windows Terminal’s Open a new button to bring up the menu in the snapshot directly below. You can select to open a Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt option there according to preference.
    The Open a new menu button
  4. Enter the del “full file path” command in the PowerShell or Command Prompt tab. For example, a del command that deletes a file titled Screenshot (1).png in the Users folder would like this:
            del “C:\Users\Screenshot (1).png”
        
  5. Press the Return keyboard key to execute the command and erase the specified file.
    The Del command

You can also add a force delete parameter to that command. To do so, add an /f switch after the del part of the command. The delete Screenshot (1).png command above would then look like this with that parameter included:

        del /f “C:\Users\Screenshot (1).png”
    

6. How to Selectively Delete Files With CCleaner

CCleaner is among the most widely utilized freeware disk cleaner tools for Windows platforms. Most users probably utilize CCleaner’s disk cleanup tool to erase superfluous software junk files. However, you can also selectively erase user files with that software as follows.

  1. Open the download CCleaner page in your browser software.
  2. Click the Free Download option there.
  3. Next, open the folder where CCleaner downloaded to within Explorer.
  4. Double-click CCleaner’s setup file.
    The CCleaner Installation window
  5. Click the Install option on the CCleaner Installation window.
  6. Select the Run CCleaner option after installing.
  7. Next, click the Options tab in CCleaner.
  8. Select Include to bring up the options shown directly below.
    The Include options
  9. Press the Add button to open the window in the snapshot directly below.
    The Include window
  10. Click the File radio button.
  11. Select the Browse option, choose a file to delete, and click Open.
  12. Press the OK option to exit the Include window.
  13. Now select the Custom Clean tab.
  14. Select the Custom Files and Folders checkbox. Make sure there aren’t any other checkboxes selected.
    The Custom Files and Folders checkbox
  15. Then click the Analyze button.
  16. Press the Run cleaner button to erase the files you selected on the Include window.

CCleaner doesn’t move files to the Recycle Bin when it deletes them. However, files aren’t necessarily entirely deleted even after removing them from the Recycle Bin. The system reference to a file might be gone after deletion, but data remains recoverable until overwritten. You might still be able to restore some erased data with one of the numerous file recovery software packages for Windows.

CCleaner includes a Secure file deletion option you can select to erase files more thoroughly. With that option selected, the cleanup utility will also overwrite data to forestall potential file recovery. You can configure CCleaner to securely delete files like this.

  1. Click Options in CCleaner’s window.
  2. Select Settings on the left of the Options tab.
  3. Click the Secure file deletion (Slower) radio button.
  4. Choose a simple, advanced, complex, or very complex overwrite option on the drop-down menu. Very Complex Overwrite is the most secure (and slowest) file deletion option with 35 passes.
    The Secure file deletion radio button
  5. Then select some files to delete with CCleaner as outlined above.

Free Up Some Drive Space by Selectively Deleting User Files

So, you don’t have to always rely on disk cleanup junk file scans to free up drive storage space in Windows 11. You can potentially free up many megabytes, even gigabytes, of storage space by selectively deleting large images, documents, and video files on your hard drive. Have a good look through File Explorer to identify big user files you don’t need, and then delete them with any of the methods above.