diff --git a/api/api/views.py b/api/api/views.py
index 6cb298c..7769ac5 100644
--- a/api/api/views.py
+++ b/api/api/views.py
@@ -19,9 +19,16 @@ from freqsplit.input.format_checker import is_supported_format
 UPLOAD_DIR = "/tmp/freqsplit"
 
 # Ensure the temp directory exists
-shutil.rmtree(UPLOAD_DIR)
 os.makedirs(UPLOAD_DIR, exist_ok=True)
 
+# Remove all files inside the directory
+for filename in os.listdir(UPLOAD_DIR):
+    file_path = os.path.join(UPLOAD_DIR, filename)
+    if os.path.isfile(file_path) or os.path.islink(file_path):
+        os.unlink(file_path)
+    elif os.path.isdir(file_path):
+        shutil.rmtree(file_path)
+
 # Endpoint to ping server
 @api_view(['GET'])
 def ping(request):