Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Removing a Directory.

Removing a Directory

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 15, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


VBA allows you to perform many commands that help in manipulating files and directories. In another issue of WordTips you learn how to create a directory in a macro using the MkDir command. There are times that programmers (even macro programmers) create directories to store temporary files. When they are done, the files are deleted, and the directory is removed. To remove a directory, you use the RmDir command in your macro, as shown here:

RmDir DirName

where DirName is the full pathname of the directory you want to delete. If you do not use a string variable to specify the directory name, then DirName must be enclosed in quotes. If there are any files in the directory or any subdirectories contained in the subdirectory, the command fails with an error. (This means you should delete all the files and subdirectories before trying to remove a directory with RmDir.)

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5845) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Removing a Directory.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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