FileSystemDirectoryEntry: removeRecursively() method

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

Non-standard: This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.

The FileSystemDirectoryEntry interface's method removeRecursively() removes the directory as well as all of its content, hierarchically iterating over its entire subtree of descendant files and directories.

To remove a single file, or an empty directory, you can also use FileSystemEntry.remove().

Syntax

js
removeRecursively(successCallback)
removeRecursively(successCallback, errorCallback)

Parameters

successCallback

A function to call once the directory removal process has completed. The callback has no parameters.

errorCallback Optional

A function to be called if an error occurs while attempting to remove the directory subtree. Receives a FileError describing the error which occurred as input.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

If an error occurs and an errorCallback was specified, it gets called with a single parameter: a FileError object describing the error. The FileError.code specifies what type of error occurred, as follows:

FileError.INVALID_MODIFICATION_ERR

An attempt was made to remove the root directory; this is not permitted.

FileError.NO_MODIFICATION_ALLOWED_ERR

The file system's state doesn't permit modification.

FileError.NOT_FOUND_ERR

The directory represented by the FileSystemDirectoryEntry no longer exists.

FileError.NOT_READABLE_ERR

The directory is not accessible; perhaps it's in use by another application or is locked at the operating system level.

FileError.SECURITY_ERR

The directory could not be removed for security reasons. Possible reasons include:

  • The directory and/or its contents may not be safe to access from a Web application.
  • Too many file system calls are being made.
  • Other security concerns as raised by the user agent or the operating system.

Note: If you try to delete a directory which contains one or more files that can't be removed, or if an error occurs while deletion of a number of files is underway, some files may not be deleted. You should provide an errorCallback to watch for and handle this, perhaps by trying again.

Examples

js
directory.removeRecursively(
  () => {
    /* The directory was removed successfully */
  },
  () => {
    /* an error occurred while removing the directory */
  },
);

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also