The Windows 11 operating system from Microsoft places the files and folders in the Recycle Bin when the user deletes the files, giving them a layer of protection if the deletion was accidental and they need to restore that file or folder. To actually delete the items from the system, the contents of the Recycle Bin need to be deleted or it has to be emptied manually or automatically.
For those who need another layer of protection before deleting the files or folders and placing them in the Recycle Bin, the Windows 11 operating system allows users to enable a confirmation dialog before deleting the files.
There are a few different ways to enable the confirmation prompt for deleting items in the Windows 11 operating system but in this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to enable this feature using the Registry Editor.
How to enable file delete confirmation in Windows 11 using Registry Editor
Step 1: Open the Registry Editor tool on your computer. For this, open the Start menu and type regedit.msc and then click on the app from the search results.
Step 2: When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following location:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Step 3: After that, right-click on Explorer and select “New > Dword (32-bit) Value” from the context menu.
Step 4: Make sure to name the new entry as “ConfirmFileDelete”.
Step 5: Double-click on the new Dword and set its value to “1” and then click on the “Ok” button.
That’s it. After you have made the changes, you will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Once the system restarts, you will notice when you try to delete a file or folder on your Windows 11 computer, it will show a confirmation prompt before taking the action.
