diff --git a/src/interactive/app/handlers.rs b/src/interactive/app/handlers.rs
index 261866c2..7733075c 100644
--- a/src/interactive/app/handlers.rs
+++ b/src/interactive/app/handlers.rs
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ use crate::interactive::{
 };
 use dua::traverse::TreeIndex;
 use itertools::Itertools;
-use petgraph::visit::Bfs;
-use petgraph::Direction;
+use petgraph::{visit::Bfs, Direction};
+use std::{fs, io, path::PathBuf};
 use termion::event::Key;
 use tui::backend::Backend;
 use tui_react::Terminal;
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ impl TerminalApp {
 
     pub fn delete_entry(&mut self, index: TreeIndex) -> Result<(), usize> {
         if let Some(_entry) = self.traversal.tree.node_weight(index) {
+            let path_to_delete = path_of(&self.traversal.tree, index);
+            delete_directory_recursively(path_to_delete)?;
             let parent_idx = self
                 .traversal
                 .tree
@@ -233,3 +235,59 @@ impl TerminalApp {
         }
     }
 }
+
+fn into_error_count(res: Result<(), io::Error>) -> usize {
+    match res.map_err(io_err_to_usize) {
+        Ok(_) => 0,
+        Err(c) => c,
+    }
+}
+
+fn io_err_to_usize(err: io::Error) -> usize {
+    if err.kind() == io::ErrorKind::NotFound {
+        0
+    } else {
+        1
+    }
+}
+
+fn delete_directory_recursively(path: PathBuf) -> Result<(), usize> {
+    let mut files_or_dirs = vec![path];
+    let mut dirs = Vec::new();
+    let mut num_errors = 0;
+    while let Some(path) = files_or_dirs.pop() {
+        match fs::read_dir(&path) {
+            Ok(iterator) => {
+                dirs.push(path);
+                for entry in iterator {
+                    match entry.map_err(io_err_to_usize) {
+                        Ok(entry) => files_or_dirs.push(entry.path()),
+                        Err(c) => num_errors += c,
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            Err(ref e) if e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+                continue;
+            }
+            Err(ref e) if e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::Other => {
+                // assume file, save IOps
+                num_errors += into_error_count(fs::remove_file(path));
+                continue;
+            }
+            Err(_) => {
+                num_errors += 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    for dir in dirs.into_iter().rev() {
+        num_errors += into_error_count(fs::remove_dir(dir));
+    }
+
+    if num_errors == 0 {
+        Ok(())
+    } else {
+        Err(num_errors)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/interactive/app_test/journeys_with_writes.rs b/src/interactive/app_test/journeys_with_writes.rs
index e8cd6b5f..cbd51cd2 100644
--- a/src/interactive/app_test/journeys_with_writes.rs
+++ b/src/interactive/app_test/journeys_with_writes.rs
@@ -29,13 +29,8 @@ fn basic_user_journey_with_deletion() -> Result<(), Error> {
     // When selecting the marker window and pressing the combination to delete entries
     app.process_events(
         &mut terminal,
-        vec![Ok(Key::Char('\t')), Ok(Key::Ctrl('R'))].into_iter(),
+        vec![Ok(Key::Char('\t')), Ok(Key::Ctrl('r'))].into_iter(),
     )?;
-    assert_eq!(
-        fixture.as_ref().is_dir(),
-        false,
-        "the directory should have been deleted"
-    );
     assert_eq!(
         app.window.mark_pane.is_none(),
         true,
@@ -46,5 +41,10 @@ fn basic_user_journey_with_deletion() -> Result<(), Error> {
         app.state.root, app.traversal.root_index,
         "the only root left is the top-level"
     );
+    assert_eq!(
+        fixture.as_ref().is_dir(),
+        false,
+        "the directory should have been deleted",
+    );
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/src/interactive/app_test/utils.rs b/src/interactive/app_test/utils.rs
index 144a4cc1..74881433 100644
--- a/src/interactive/app_test/utils.rs
+++ b/src/interactive/app_test/utils.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ pub struct WritableFixture {
 
 impl Drop for WritableFixture {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
-        delete_recursive(&self.root).unwrap();
+        delete_recursive(&self.root).ok();
     }
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ fn delete_recursive(path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> Result<(), Error> {
     let mut dirs: Vec<_> = Vec::new();
 
     for entry in WalkDir::new(&path).num_threads(1).into_iter() {
-        let entry: DirEntry = entry.unwrap();
+        let entry: DirEntry = entry?;
         let p = entry.path();
         match p.is_dir() {
             true => dirs.push(p),