This program deletes EVERYTHING in a folder and all subfolders, including files with corrupted (or too long) filenames, which is why I created it.

delete-EVERYTHING.py

# This Python script is designed to delete all files and directories in a specified folder.
# It handles files with special characters in their names and long paths using UNC paths.
#
# Instructions:
# 1. Change the 'folder_to_delete' variable to the path of the directory you want to clear.
# 2. Run this script with Python. Ensure you have the necessary permissions to delete the files.
# 3. Use this script carefully, as it will permanently delete files and directories.

import os
import shutil

# Change this path to the directory you want to delete
folder_to_delete = "C:/temp/_Test"

def delete_files(folder_path):
    """
    Deletes all files and directories in the specified folder path, including handling special characters.

    Args:
    folder_path (str): The path to the directory where files and subdirectories will be deleted.
    """
    
    # UNC_PREFIX is a string used to handle files with special characters in paths on Windows.
    # The prefix '\\?\' tells Windows to turn off all path parsing and allows for longer paths.
    UNC_PREFIX = "\\\\?\\"
    
    # Convert the given folder path to an absolute path and prepend with UNC_PREFIX to handle special characters.
    folder_path = UNC_PREFIX + os.path.abspath(folder_path)
    
    # os.walk is used to iterate over each directory and subdirectory in the folder.
    # 'topdown=False' makes os.walk start from innermost directories, making it easier to delete subdirectories.
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(folder_path, topdown=False):
        # Iterate over each file in the current directory ('root')
        for name in files:
            file_path = os.path.join(root, name)  # Create the full path of the file
            try:
                os.remove(file_path)  # Try to delete the file
                print(f"Deleted file: {file_path}")
            except Exception as e:
                # If there's an error during deletion, print an error message.
                print(f"Failed to delete file: {file_path}, error: {e}")
        
        # Iterate over each directory in the current directory
        for name in dirs:
            dir_path = os.path.join(root, name)  # Create the full path of the directory
            try:
                shutil.rmtree(dir_path)  # Try to delete the directory and all its contents
                print(f"Deleted directory: {dir_path}")
            except Exception as e:
                # If there's an error during deletion, print an error message.
                print(f"Failed to delete directory: {dir_path}, error: {e}")

# Example usage of the function:
delete_files(folder_to_delete)