# FTP - Remove files and folders at light speed
> Stop the slow process of deleting files via FTP! Learn how to remove entire websites and folders at lightning speed using a simple, self-deleting PHP script—even without SSH access.
---
**TL;DR**
This article shares a small `erase.php` script you can upload via FTP and run once from the browser to instantly wipe an entire website folder server-side, avoiding the painfully slow file-by-file deletion through an FTP client — with a strong warning that it deletes everything immediately, with no confirmation or backup.
Have you ever deleted a website from your FTP client? It's easy, just select the folder containing the website and press the `delete` key.
Easy, simple and ... so slow. It takes ages to delete files and folders. Several dozen minutes! Ouch.
If you've [an SSH connection to your web server](/blog/connect-using-ssh-to-your-hosting-server) and if you're comfortable with it; you can `rm -rf` the folder and it'll be done in seconds.
But what if you don't have SSH or fear to make errors?
There is an alternative, the `erase.php` script.
Open your FTP client, open your website folder (like `/var/www/html/old_site`); the one you wish to remove and create a new file called f.i. `erase.php` then copy/paste the code below in it.
**erase.php**
```php
Deleting all files and subfolders in '.$directory.'';
$it = new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($directory);
foreach (new RecursiveIteratorIterator($it, RecursiveIteratorIterator::CHILD_FIRST) as $file) {
if ( ($file->isDir()) && (!in_array($file->getFilename(), array('.', '..'))) ){
echo 'Deleting folder '.$file->getPathname().'
';
rmdir($file->getPathname());
} else {
if ( ($file->isFile()) && ($file->getPathname()!=__FILE__) ) {
echo 'Deleting file '.$file->getPathname().'
';
unlink ($file->getPathname());
}
}
}
echo 'Deletion complete. Only the '.$script_name.' file remains in the folder.
';
unlink(__FILE__);
?>
```
Start your browser, navigate to your website (`http://your_old_site.com`) and add `/erase.php` at the end to run the script.
> **Make sure this is what you want:**
>
> Be really sure this is what you want
> **Be extremely sure this is what you want:**
>
> The script will then start immediately and will remove everything without asking confirmation nor backup. Just killing files and folders.
>
> At the end of the process (i.e. in just a few seconds), the folder will be completely empty.
>
> *And, exactly like [the QuickScan scanner](/blog/aesecure-quickscan), remember to delete `erase.php` from your server as soon as you're done: a script able to wipe a folder has no business staying reachable from the Internet.*