How to recursive delete files and directories with PHP

mariusvw — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 08:53:19 +0000

This is an example how you could recursive delete directories with PHP.

Keep in mind that you ALWAYS define a root where this function should do its action.

This can seriously remove all your files.

define('UPLOADFILES', dirname(dirname(__FILE__)) . '/uploadfiles');
 
function recursiveDelete($path) {
	if (strpos($path, UPLOADFILES) === false) {
		exit('Trying to remove from wrong path to uploadfiles!');
	}
	if (is_file($path)) {
		return unlink($path);
	} elseif ( is_dir($path) ){
		$objects = scandir($path);
		foreach ($objects as $object) {
			if($object != '.' && $object != '..'){
				recursiveDelete($path . '/' . $object);
			}
		}
		reset($objects);
		return rmdir($path);
	}
}

Marius van Witzenburg » Directories

How to recursive delete files and directories with PHP