How to recursively delete directory using C++17 filesystem library

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To remove a file or directory (for example my-directory) use remove_all from the C++17 filesystem library:

remove_all("my-directory");

This will remove my-directory and all its sub-directories and files recursively.

Full example:

#include <experimental/filesystem>
using namespace std::experimental::filesystem;

int main() {
    remove_all("my-directory");
}

In case you are using GCC, you need to compile the file like this:

g++ -o delete-cpp17 delete-cpp17.cpp -lstdc++fs

You need to link the stdc++fs library so the functions from the C++17 filesystem library are available to your program.

If you just want to remove a file and don’t want to risk deleting an entire directory tree, use remove instead of remove_all or see our previous post How to delete file using C++17 filesystem library