How is the new system stored procedure sys.xp_delete_files different from sys.xp_delete_file?

SQL Server 2019 introduced a new (and undocumented) system stored procedure:

sys.xp_delete_files

What, exactly, does this new extended stored procedure do? How does it differ from xp_delete_file that has been around for years? Does it replace xp_delete_file?

To start with, the older xp_delete_file (also undocumented) is quite limited:

• It can only delete either backup (.bak / .trn) or report (??) files (I believe it actually scans the first part of them to verify the file "type"

• It only deletes by file extension (i.e. not specific files, or whatever matches based on wildcards) and based on being older than the supplied date

• It's picky and requires a trailing slash on the directory / folder

• It can only delete files, not folders

• It can recurse down through subfolders (ok, so this one is not a limitation)

For more info on it, please see:

• How to Use xp_delete_file to Purge Old Backup Files

• SQL Server xp_delete_file not deleting files

The newer sys.xp_delete_files has the following syntax:
EXEC sys.xp_delete_files 'fileSpec.01' [, 'fileSpec.02' [, ...] ] ;


Notes:

• File type / extension does not matter

• Works with standard DOS wildcard characters:

• * = zero or more of any character

• ? = exactly one of any character

• Does NOT recurse through subdirectories (for deleting files) (this is the only "limitation")

• Can specify multiple, fully-qualified path specifications, each being able to handle wildcards

• Can remove entire non-empty subfolder structure!! (might need to run a few times to delete everything)

• Must be a member of the sysadmin fixed Server Role in order to execute (use Module Signing instead of adding application Login to sysadmin fixed Server Role; please see: Safely and Easily Use High-Level Permissions Without Granting Them to Anyone: Server-level )

• Backported to SQL Server 2017 (possibly in CU18)

For complete details, please see my post:

sys.xp_delete_files and ‘allow filesystem enumeration’: two new undocumented items in SQL Server 2019

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#258479, answer score: 13