Build a Python Script That Detects and Deletes Empty Files Across Folders

import os
from pathlib import Path

def find_and_delete_empty_files(root_dir: str) -> list:
    """Find and delete all empty files under root_dir. Returns list of deleted paths."""
    deleted = []
    for file_path in Path(root_dir).rglob('*'):
        if file_path.is_file() and file_path.stat().st_size == 0:
            file_path.unlink()
            deleted.append(str(file_path))
    return deleted

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Create test directory structure with empty and non-empty files
    test_dir = Path("test_empty_cleanup")
    test_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    (test_dir / "empty1.txt").touch()
    (test_dir / "important.txt").write_text("Important data")
    (test_dir / "subfolder").mkdir(exist_ok=True)
    (test_dir / "subfolder" / "empty2.log").touch()
    (test_dir / "subfolder" / "data.csv").write_text("a,b,c\n1,2,3")

    # Run the deletion
    result = find_and_delete_empty_files("test_empty_cleanup")
    print(f"Deleted {len(result)} empty files:")
    for path in result:
        print(f"  - {path}")

    # Cleanup test directory
    import shutil
    shutil.rmtree(test_dir)