Delete Definition

Delete is computer terminology for remove or erase. You can delete text from a document of delete entire files or folders from your hard drive. When typing a document, you can remove characters behind the cursor by pressing the delete key. If you want to remove characters in front of the cursor, you can press the smaller delete key near the home and end buttons on the keyboard. You can also remove entire sections of text by selecting the text you wish to delete and pressing either delete button on the keyboard.

Files and folders can be removed from your hard drive by dragging them to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or the Trash (Macintosh) and then emptying the trash. When you delete a file, it is actually not erased, but instead the reference to the file is removed. This means deleted files are still intact until they are written over. Special utilities such as Norton Unerase can recover accidentally deleted files.