How to permanently delete files over FTP safely
FTP by Zaweba's Delete Permanently (Shift+Del) skips the trash after a warning, and asks you to type the file count when folders are included.
Select the files in FTP by Zaweba and choose Delete Permanently, either with Shift+Del or from the right-click menu. You'll get a warning that it can't be undone. On the server it's a red batch confirmation, and when folders are included you type the number of files before it goes ahead. After that, the items are gone without passing through the server trash or the Recycle Bin.
Permanent deletion is meant to be a little awkward. Here's how it works and when it's the right choice.
Ordinary delete versus permanent delete
A normal delete in FTP by Zaweba is reversible. Local files go to the Windows Recycle Bin. Server files can go to a server-side trash, from which the Trash window puts them back exactly where they were.
Delete Permanently skips both. It's for files you're certain about: a huge backup archive you've already downloaded, an old copy of a site you've replaced, a folder of test uploads. Removing them outright frees space on your hosting at once, rather than leaving them sitting in the trash.
Deleting for good
Select the items in the server pane. You can select several files and folders together.
Press Shift+Del, or right-click and choose Delete Permanently. The confirmation lists what will go. On the server it's shown in red so it can't be mistaken for an ordinary delete.
If the selection includes folders, you're asked to type the number of files. That's because a folder can hold far more than it looks, and typing the figure makes you notice when you're about to remove four thousand files rather than four.
Batch confirmations can also offer to download a backup first. On anything you're even slightly unsure about, take it.
Confirm, and the deletion runs. Deletes wait for earlier queued transfers, so a folder is removed only after its contents and won't clash with anything still uploading.
Emptying items already in the trash
Files you deleted earlier may already be in the server trash. To remove those for good, open the Trash window, tick them and choose Delete ticked permanently. As before, you type the number of files, and you can download a backup first.
What it won't delete
Protected paths are blocked from deletion, permanent or otherwise. They include .htaccess, wp-config.php, .env, .well-known/, cgi-bin/, the web root and cPanel folders such as mail/, etc/, ssl/ and logs/. In a batch confirmation they're listed as left out, so you know they were skipped deliberately. A folder that merely contains a protected item can still be deleted, but the confirmation says so.
Clearing big files with Disk
If the reason you're deleting is space, start in Disk. It scans the server and shows a treemap, a sortable list and the biggest 100 files, and its web-server lens points out common space hogs such as database dumps, backup archives, PHP error logs and cache folders. You can tag files and send them to the trash together, then empty that trash once you're sure.
A word of caution
Permanent means permanent. FTP by Zaweba keeps local version history of files it overwrites, but a permanent delete on the server isn't an overwrite, so history won't bring it back. If in doubt, use the ordinary delete, check the site still works for a few days, and empty the trash afterwards. You get the same result, with a safety margin.
