Why can I only permanently delete 50 files at a time from the onedrive recycle bin? Is there a way to delete them all at once?

Hello BMS2025,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

I understand that you seem to only be able to delete up to 50 files from the OneDrive Recycle Bin. You need to delete a large number of files in one click.

Unfortunately, in my tests I have the same problem as you. When I select more than 50 files, the delete button disappears. You can only delete a maximum of no more than 50 files at a time.

This is apparently due to the design of OneDrive, as the OneDrive Recycle Bin when storing OneDrive data is the last link in the chain, if files are erased from the OneDrive Recycle Bin, they cannot be recovered.

This design prevents users from deleting files from OneDrive by accidentally clicking Select All and thus deleting all files by mistake, resulting in unrecoverable files.

I understand that this may not be the solution you were hoping for, but I apologize that this is due to design thinking.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and support.

Kindly regards,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

That's a good feature. I didn't know about that. You will be less likely to delete files without examining them.

Consider zipping up folders that contain hundreds or thousands of files. Software that you want to backup is a good example. That way, you can delete all files at once.

That's a good feature. I didn't know about that. You will be less likely to delete files without examining them.

Nope - not a good feature, if you've got hundreds of files. Who has a whole day to examine hundreds of files (that should have been examined when you sent them to the recycle bin.

Nope - not a good feature, if you've got hundreds of files. Who has a whole day to examine hundreds of files (that should have been examined when you sent them to the recycle bin.

The online recycle bin will automatically clear in 30 days. Make sure there is nothing important in there.

I realized that this might be a design feature. But my Recycle Bin has more than 20,000 files, and I can only delete them 50 at a time. And the function of clearing the Recycle Bin in the file management options is also ineffective. I gradually became angry.

People have said they can clear the entire OneDrive recycle bin using their phones.

I totally agree with your point. Such a nuisance when you want to delete thousands of files.

Fix it guys!!

This is a **** feature.. I dont know from which angle you found it good

This is a **** feature.. I dont know from which angle you found it good

Perhaps you are a gamer with hundreds of files? If you have many files to delete, I suggest you not automatically back up your Documents folder to OneDrive and just do a drag/drop or copy/paste backup of only the files you want to backup.