In computing, <code>del</code> (or <code>erase</code>) is a command in command-line interpreters (shells) such as <code>COMMAND.COM</code>, <code>cmd.exe</code>, 4DOS, NDOS, 4OS2, 4NT and Windows PowerShell. It is used to delete one or more files or directories from a file system.
The command is available for various operating systems including DOS, Microware OS-9, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS. It is analogous to the Unix <code>rm</code> command and to the Stratus OpenVOS <code>delete_file</code> and <code>delete_dir</code>commands.
DEC RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, and OpenVMS also provide the <code>delete</code> command which can be contracted to <code>del</code>. AmigaDOS and TSC FLEX provide a <code>delete</code> command as well.
The <code>erase</code> command is supported by Tim Paterson's SCP 86-DOS. On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later. It is also available in the open-source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox.
Datalight ROM-DOS also includes an implementation of the and commands.
While Digital Research DR-DOS supports <code>del</code> and <code>erase</code> as well, it also supports the shorthand form <code>era</code>, which derived from CP/M. In addition to this, the DR-DOS command processor also supports <code>delq</code>/<code>eraq</code>. These are shorthand forms for the <code>del</code>/<code>era</code>/<code>erase</code> command with an assumed <code>/Q</code> parameter (for 'Query') given as well.
THEOS/OASIS and FlexOS provide only the <code>erase</code> command.
In PowerShell, <code>del</code> and <code>erase</code> are predefined command aliases for the <code>Remove-Item</code> cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.