Ask for confirmation before deleting files — via Microsoft Learn

Group Policy

Open gpedit.msc (Pro, Enterprise and Education only) and go to:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer > Display confirmation dialog when deleting files

Registry equivalent

Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.

Apply

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: Ask for confirmation before deleting files

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ConfirmFileDelete"=dword:00000001

Undo

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Oddbyte.Me: undo Ask for confirmation before deleting files

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"ConfirmFileDelete"=-

Same thing from a command prompt

Run in a normal (non-admin) Command Prompt or Terminal.

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v "ConfirmFileDelete" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Undo:

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v "ConfirmFileDelete" /f