Remove-Item command is not removing a folder and its contents - powershell

Question

I have an application that will be un installed across our estate, so I am creating a PowerShell script to do this (it will be distributed through Intune). However after the uninstall a folder and 2 files remain. I added in Remove-Item but it will not remove the folder and content even with -Force and -Recurse included as it states it is in use, but I can manually delete the folder and contents without any issues.
My script is (I have changed sensitive information)
$FileName = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app\app1.exe"
if (Test-Path $FileName) {
Write-Host "File Exists"
}
else
{
Write-Host "File Doesn't Exists"
exit
}
cd "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app"
.\Update.exe --uninstall
Remove-Item -Path C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app -Force -Recurse
The actual error states
Remove-Item : Cannot remove the item at 'C:\Users\superuser\AppData\Local\my_app' because it is in use
At line:21 char:1
+ Remove-Item -Path C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app - ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Remove-Item], PSInvalidOperationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperation,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommand

Answer 1

You change locations into the same directory you are trying to delete. You need to change out of that directory. You have a few options here:
The Obvious Solution (Once You Know the Issue)
Change out of the directory:
cd .. # any path that is not part of the directory tree you want to delete
But PowerShell has some more useful ways to traverse directories. Read on for more information.
Solution 2: Windows PowerShell - Use the Location Stack
Opt for using Push-Location and Pop-Location instead of cd (aliased to Set-Location).Push/Pop-Location use the location stack. Use Push-Location to change to new directories and Pop-Location to walk backwards. In your case, this would work:
Push-Location "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app"
.\Update.exe --uninstall
Pop-Location # This will return to the previous directory
Remove-Item -Path C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app -Force -Recurse
Solution 3: PowerShell Core - Use cd -
If you can utilize PowerShell Core, the same concept applies but PowerShell Core supports the bash-like cd - and cd + since version 6.2. Similar to using Push/Pop-Location, you can walk backwards and forwards to the directories you've been to. In your case, cd - would work like so:
cd "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app"
.\Update.exe --uninstall
cd - # This will return to the previous directory
Remove-Item -Path C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\my_app -Force -Recurse
From the Set-Location documentation for PowerShell Core:
PowerShell 6.2 added support for - and + as a values for the Path parameter. PowerShell maintains a history of the last 20 locations that can be accessed with - and +. This list is independent from the location stack that is accessed using the StackName parameter.