In Windows 11 when you delete something from your computer, two things can happen. If the file size is below the capacity of Recycle Bin, then it will be moved there. Otherwise, you have to permanently delete the file from your memory. If it goes into the recycle bin, you will have the option to restore that file in the future.

The ‘Delete File Confirmation Dialog’ is a feature that simply means when you delete something you will dialog box appear to confirm that you want to delete the file. This system is present in order to prevent you from accidentally deleting a file or a program permanently from your computer. Although, In the latest versions of Windows, by default, this feature is turned off.

Turn on Delete Confirmation Dialog from Recycle Bin Properties

This process is basically how it sounds. First, right-click on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop and then select

After that, a window will come up labeled as ‘Recycle Bin Properties’. From there, check the box that says ‘Display delete confirmation dialog’ and then click on ‘OK’.

Now if you try to delete a file on your computer, you will be presented with a window asking if you are sure about deleting that file.

Enable Delete File Confirmation Dialog using Registry Editor

You can also use the Registry Editor to force enable the Delete file confirmations.

To open Registry Editor, open up the Run window by pressing Windows+r on your keyboard. Then, type ‘regedit’ inside the command line and press Enter.

On the Registry Editor window, copy & paste the following text inside the address bar and press Enter. It will take you to a specific file path where you need to create a new registry. 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

After that, right-click on ‘Explorer’ under Policies and then select ‘New’ and after that select ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’.

Rename the newly created registry to ‘ConfirmFileDelete’.

Now, double-click on the ConfirmFileDelete registry, and a small window will appear. From there, set the ‘Value data’ to 1 and click on ‘OK’ and it’s done. You have enabled Delete File Confirmation Dialog in Windows 11.

Enable Delete File Confirmation Dialog via the Group Policy Editor

Just like the Registry Editor, the Delete File Confirmation Dialog can be enabled via the Group Policy Editor. The process is also almost similar in nature. Start by searching for ‘Group Policy Editor’ in Windows search and select the ‘Edit group policy’.

On the Local Group Policy Editor window, Under ‘User Configuration’ section, double-click on ‘Administrative Template’.

After that, select ‘Windows Components and then select ‘File Explorer’.

After selecting File Explorer, you will see the ‘Display confirmation dialog when deleting files ‘Display confirmation dialog when deleting files’.

Now, double click on the ‘Display confirmation dialog when deleting files’ policy and when a new window comes up, select the ‘Enabled’ toggle near the top left corner of the window and then select ‘OK’.