Quickly deleting lots of files using FTP?

I believe that FTP doesn't actually have a recursive delete operation. The options I can think of are as follows:

  1. Use the ncftp program. This is another FTP program with additional options. However, I think it just works on the command line and doesn't have a GUI.
  2. If you have SSH access to the server then use that instead of FTP and use the rm -r command.
  3. Write a PHP or other script to do the deletion for you.

Users that don't "ssh" can login to cpanel if their host supports it and use the File Manager there. It will delete files a lot faster. Uploading files over http also seems to be faster in some cases.


You can quickly delete directory or files from FTP using Windows Explorer.

  1. Open a Windows Explorer window; press Win+E.
  2. Click to select the address bar.
  3. Type the FTP site’s address. (example-ftp://ftp.example.com)
  4. Press Enter.
  5. Input your FTP ID and PWD.
  6. Press Enter.
  7. now you can access all files and directory. Find and delete quickly.

enter image description here

Tags:

Ftp