Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Removing a Directory.

Removing a Directory

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 29, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


In other issues of ExcelTips you learn how to create a directory from within a macro. There are times that programmers (even macro programmers) create directories to store temporary files. When they are done, the files are deleted, and the directory is removed. To remove a directory, you use the RmDir command in your macro, as shown here:

RmDir DirName

where DirName is the full pathname of the directory you want to delete. If you do not use a string variable to specify the directory name, then DirName must be enclosed in quotes. If there are any files in the directory or any subdirectories contained in the subdirectory, the command fails with an error. (This means you should delete all the files and subdirectories before trying to remove a directory with RmDir.)

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9935) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Removing a Directory.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Saving Common Formulas

It is not uncommon to reuse formulas in a variety of workbooks. If you develop some "gotta keep" formulas, here are some ...

Discover More

Printing the Code for a Macro Procedure

Want to print your macros to hard copy? There are a few approaches you can use to accomplish the task, as discussed in ...

Discover More

Figuring Out Your IP Address

If you computer communicates over a network or over the Internet, it uses an IP address. This tip explains what an IP ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Making Modal Dialog Boxes Appear in Front of Workbooks

Perhaps the most common way of communicating with programs is through the use of dialog boxes. We expect dialog boxes to ...

Discover More

Specifying Location for a Message Box

When writing macros, you may want to position a message box at a specific location on the screen. This can't be done in ...

Discover More

Workbook Events

You can create macros that run whenever Excel detects a certain event happening within an entire workbook. This tip ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.