Permanently Delete - Add to Context Menu

How to Add 'Permanently Delete' to Send To Context Menu in Windows​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove Permanently Delete from the Send To context menu in XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

When you use the added Permanently Delete, it will give you a confirmation prompt to secure erase the selected file(s), and will not be placed in the Recycle Bin.

This could also be handy if you did not want to set the Recycle Bin to permanently delete files so that you can Delete some files to the Recycle Bin, and others Permanently Delete with this context menu item.

While you must be logged in as an administrator to be able to add or remove this context menu, all users will be able to use the context menu.

   Note

How to use Permanently Delete when added:

1) Select one or more files.

2) Right click or press and hold on selected files.

3) Click/tap on Send to and Permanently Delete.js.

4) If this is the first time you used Permanently Delete, then click on Agree for the SDelete license agreement. You will not see this anymore afterwards.

5) Click/tap on Yes to confirm.

6) Click/tap on OK in the confirmation dialog.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Add Permanently Delete to Send To Context Menu
• Option Two: To Remove Permanently Delete from Send To Context Menu

OPTION ONE

To Add Permanently Delete to Send To Context Menu

1. Click/tap on the Download button below to go the Windows Sysinternals website, and then download SDelete to your desktop.

Download


2. Unblock the downloaded SDelete.zip file.

3. Open the SDelete.zip file, and extract (drag and drop) the SDelete.exe file to your desktop.

4. Move the SDelete.exe file into the C:\Windows\System32 folder. (see screenshot below)

5. Click/tap on Continue to confirm. (see screenshot below)

6. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the Permanently_Delete.zip file to your desktop.

Download


7. Unblock the downloaded Permanently_Delete.zip file.

8. Open the Permanently_Delete.zip file, and extract (drag and drop) the Permanently Delete.js file to your desktop.

   Note

Special thanks to our valued member Pyprohly for writing this javascript file for us.

9. Move the Permanently Delete.js file into the shell:sendto (type in address bar of explorer and press Enter) folder. (see screenshot below)

   Note

If you like, you can create a shortcut of the Permanently Delete.js file, change the shortcut's icon to what you like, and place the shortcut into the shell:sendto folder instead.

OPTION TWO

To Remove Permanently Delete from Send To Context Menu

1. Open the C:\Windows\System32 folder, and delete the SDelete.exe file. (see screenshot below)

2. Open the shell:sendto (type in address bar of explorer and press Enter) folder, and delete the Permanently Delete.js file. (see screenshot below)



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Add a Delete Button to the Vista Windows Explorer Toolbar
• How to Add a Delete Button to the Windows 7 Explorer Toolbar
• How to Set the Windows 7 Recycle Bin to Permanently Delete Items Immediately
• Add "Delete Files in Folder" and "Empty Folder" to Context Menu of Folders in Windows

 

[Ices]

Hello Ices,

I'm not having any issues with 1.61 working for me.

I've updated OPTION ONE to solve the issue of having to delete a folder twice when it had content.

Please try the updated OPTION ONE to see if that may help.

it say error deleting ...the Directory is not empty ....
but now the files & folder is deleted

with new script v 1.61 short video
View attachment new script.zip

but with SDelete 1.51 is no error message
& with new script & v 1.51 is not working... no message

http://forum.sysinternals.com/sdelete-16-folder-bug_topic26573.html

 

[Brink]

Ah, ok. That's just a false error when the directory is not empty. It will still delete the folder and it's contents though.

I've added a quite switch to prevent the false error from showing so it will not cause any false alarms about it. Please try the updated OPTION ONE with the new 1.61 SDelete again to see how that works now for you.

 

[Ices]

Now everything work great.

 

[Brink]

 

[Britton30]

   Note

The first time that you click on Permanently Delete you will need to click on the EULA Agree button for SDelete. You will only need to do this once.

Attachment 161623

When used this will immediately permanently secure delete the file or folder that you right clicked on bypassing the Recycle Bin, and does 1 or 7 overwrite passes to help make sure the current version of the deleted file or folder is unrecoverable.

Does this process overwrite the files with zeroes or 7 random number sequences?

 

[Brink]

Hello Gary,

It performs a secure delete by overwriting the data on the hard drive with zeros, and repeats seven times.

 

[Britton30]

Okey dokey, thanks.

 

[Brink]

Anytime.

 

[NopeAvi]

Sorry if I brought back a dead thread, but is there a way to get this context menu reg to have the things in the 7 passes registry but also execute the -c and -z to clean the space and zero fill?

 

[Brink]

Hello NopeAvi, and welcome to Seven Forums.

The -C and -Z switchers require to specify a drive letter to use it on. That would not be easy to make universal.

 

[apb]

A few questions:

1. Is there some reason why the vbs script is called Permantly-Delete.vbs and not Permanently-Delete.vbs? If one later is searching for this by searching for "permanently" it might not be found.

2. Is there some reason why the vbs script is placed in the system32 dir? Seems to me like a bad idea to pollute that directory with user scripts. Can't the registry entry just point to anywhere you actually put it?

3. Since shift-del performs the same function, wouldn't it be better to have a command that simply submits that to explorer?

4. Since people often discover keyboard shortcuts by seeing them in a context menu, how about adding that (shift-del) to the context menu also?

Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Hello apb,

Q1) No reason other than a typo that has just now been realized. They still worked since it was looking for the typo name, but I have updated the files to have the correct spelling now. Thank you for pointing this out so that I could correct it.

Q2) You could place the .vbs file anywhere you like, but you would just need to edit the .reg file for the new location instead.

Q3) That would be an idea, but I would have to look into it.

Q4) If it works out ok by doing so via a command, but I would have to look into it and test as well.

 

[soewhaty]

Hey there! Great tutorial again. I just have 1 concern. It clearly says in the beginning of the tutorial:

When you right click on a shortcut and click on "Permanently Delete", it's the target (source file) of the shortcut that gets deleted, and not the shortcut itself. Deleting the shortcut a second time will also delete the shortcut itself.

Can't we do something about that? I know myself and if I get used to using the 'Permanently Delete Context Menu option' all throughout then I am surely going to one day use it on a shortcut meaning only to delete the shortcut and NOT the target file. So isn't it possible to still have that nice perm. del. context menu option, but be able to use it on shortcuts and have it delete only them [the shortcuts] and not the target file. I apologize in advance if I have misunderstood something.

 

[Brink]

Hello soewhaty,

I'm afraid that I don't know of any other workaround for that.

 

[soewhaty]

Still... thank you for the reply and input. For now I'll stay away from this method of deleting, cos I know I will surely delete a shortcut and thereby a file I didn't mean to. I guess I'm not the only one who'll run into that issue. I use lots of shortcuts on my local hdd and ssd so ... great tutorial nonetheless and great objective it has!

 

[HairyPaulSack]

originally posted this in the wrong page, my apoligies

please help with adding a confirmation dialog when using permanently delete?

 

[Brink]

Hello Hairy, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Step 2 in OPTION TWO of this tutorial has an option with a confirmation.

 

[HairyPaulSack]

And this will give me the option for 7 pass scrub?

 

[Brink]

No.

SDelete from Option One doesn't appear to have a confirmation option.

 

[soewhaty]

Can we please make it somehow so that deleting a shortcut with 'Permanent delete' deletes only the shortcut itself and NOT the actual file?