Get-childitem sorted and then delete upon promt input

i try to sort a list and give it over as variable to then do something with the list. when i run the code without $files (the variable) then it list perfect. when i set the $files in front the output is nothing. what am i doing wrong ? i am very new to powershell and tried since hours to find the right combination, but i seem to not see thru.

this code below sorts exactly as wanted, but then delete is not working because $files is nowhere defined i think

 do {

Get-childitem -Path E:\TestEnv\deleted_images\ -recurse -include @("Image*") | Sort-Object -Property LastAccessTime
Group-Object Name -AsHashTable


    $files.Values
    $userinput = Read-Host -Prompt 'Please Enter Folder name to be deleted'

    if ($files.ContainsKey($userinput)) {
        $files[$userinput] | Remove-item
        Write-Host 'Folder was deleted'
    }
}
until([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($userinput)) 

i tried this code, but does not even do get-childitem list

 do {

$files = Get-childitem -Path E:\TestEnv\deleted_images\ -recurse -include @("Image*") | Sort-Object -Property LastAccessTime
Group-Object Name -AsHashTable


    $files.Values
    $userinput = Read-Host -Prompt 'Please Enter Folder name to be deleted'

    if ($files.ContainsKey($userinput)) {
        $files[$userinput] | Remove-item
        Write-Host 'Folder was deleted'
    }
}
until([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($userinput)) 

here is the modified code which i use to first move the image folders to the delete folder.

 function Do-Menu {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[string]$Path   = $PWD,  # default to current working directory
[string]$Filter = 'Image*',
[string]$Title  = 'Please select the folder(s) to move'
)
cls
# if you only want to match the name on a single wildcard string, use Filter, not Include
$dirs = @(Get-childitem -Path $Path -Filter $Filter -Recurse -Directory) | Sort-Object LastWriteTime
# only proceed if there are directories found by that name
if (!$dirs.Count) {
Write-Host "No directories found that match filter '$Filter'.."
return $false  # exit the function with a value of False
}
# create the menu
if (![string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($Title)) {
$dashLine = '-' * ($Title -split '\r?\n' | Measure-Object -Maximum -Property Length).Maximum
Write-Host "$Title`r`n$dashLine`r`n" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}
$index  = 1
$dirs | ForEach-Object {
# write out the menu items
$align = $dirs.Count.ToString().Length
# {0,$align} aligns the index number to the right
# for more DateTime formats see
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/standard-date-and-time-format-strings
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings
Write-Host ("{0,$align}. {1:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss}  {2}" -f $index++, $_.LastWriteTime, $_.FullName)  
}
# now ask for user input
$message = "`r`nType the index number of the directory you wish to delete.`r`n"
if ($dirs.Count -gt 1) { $message += "To select multiple items, separate the numbers with commas.`r`n" }
Write-Host $message -ForegroundColor Yellow
$selection = Read-Host
# make sure the input is all numeric and contains no '0' values
# or values higher than the number of directories
$selection = [int[]]($selection -replace '[^\d,]' -split ',' | 
Where-Object { $_ -match '\d+' -and ([int]$_ -gt 0 -and [int]$_ -le $dirs.Count)})
if (!$selection.Count) { return $false }  # exit on empty input
# loop over the selected indices and delete the matching folders
$selection | ForEach-Object {
$folder = $dirs[$_ - 1]
# make sure you are not trying to remove a folder of which the parent
# folder has just been removed
if (Test-Path -Path $folder.FullName -PathType Container) {
$folder | Move-Item -Destination $targetdir
Write-Host "Folder $($folder.FullName) has been moved"
}
}
# return True to have the menu rebuilt after a short pause
Start-Sleep 4
$true
}
# main code
$path = 'E:\TestEnv\Repository\images'
$targetdir = 'E:\TestEnv\deleted_images' 
while ($true) {
$result = Do-Menu -Path $path
# if the user cancelled, or if there were no folders matching the filter, exit the while loop
if (!$result) { break }
}
cls
Write-Host "`r`nAll done!" -ForegroundColor Green 

Instead of using Read-Host (where a user can type in just about anything..), I would use Out-GridView as Keith Miller already suggested.

This will provide a graphical list of directories to the user making it much easier to select one or more directories to delete.

$path = 'E:\TestEnv\deleted_images'
# enter an endless loop. We'll break out if the user clicks the Cancel button
# or when there are no directories found that match the name in the Filter
while ($true) {
# if you only want to match the name on a single wildcard string, use Filter, not Include
$dirs = Get-childitem -Path $path -Filter 'Image*' -Recurse -Directory | Sort-Object LastAccessTime
# only proceed if there are directories found by that name
if (@($dirs).Count) {
$selection = $dirs | Out-GridView -Title 'Please select the folder(s) to delete' -PassThru
# if the user cancelled, exit the while loop
if (!$selection) { break }
# the user could have selected more than one directory, so use a loop
$selection | ForEach-Object { 
$_ | Remove-Item -Recurse
Write-Host "Folder $($_.FullName) has been deleted"
}
}
else {
Write-Host "No directories found that match the filter.."
break  # no directory by that name found, so exit the while loop
}
}
Write-Host "All done" -ForegroundColor Green

<hr>

As per your comment you cannot use the graphical Out-GridView, here's the idea using a console menu.

function Do-Menu {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[string]$Path   = $PWD,  # default to current working directory
[string]$Filter = 'Image*',
[string]$Title  = 'Please select the folder(s) to delete'
)
cls
# if you only want to match the name on a single wildcard string, use Filter, not Include
$dirs = @(Get-childitem -Path $Path -Filter $Filter -Recurse -Directory) | Sort-Object LastWriteTime
# only proceed if there are directories found by that name
if (!$dirs.Count) {
Write-Host "No directories found that match filter '$Filter'.."
return $false  # exit the function with a value of False
}
# create the menu
if (![string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($Title)) {
$dashLine = '-' * ($Title -split '\r?\n' | Measure-Object -Maximum -Property Length).Maximum
Write-Host "$Title`r`n$dashLine`r`n" -ForegroundColor Yellow
}
$index  = 1
$dirs | ForEach-Object {
# write out the menu items
$align = $dirs.Count.ToString().Length
# {0,$align} aligns the index number to the right
# for more DateTime formats see
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/standard-date-and-time-format-strings
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings
Write-Host ("{0,$align}. {1:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss}  {2}" -f $index++, $_.LastWriteTime, $_.FullName)  
}
# now ask for user input
$message = "`r`nType the index number of the directory you wish to delete.`r`n"
if ($dirs.Count -gt 1) { $message += "To select multiple items, separate the numbers with commas.`r`n" }
Write-Host $message -ForegroundColor Yellow
$selection = Read-Host
# make sure the input is all numeric and contains no '0' values
# or values higher than the number of directories
$selection = [int[]]($selection -replace '[^\d,]' -split ',' | 
Where-Object { $_ -match '\d+' -and ([int]$_ -gt 0 -and [int]$_ -le $dirs.Count)})
if (!$selection.Count) { return $false }  # exit on empty input
# loop over the selected indices and delete the matching folders
$selection | ForEach-Object {
$folder = $dirs[$_ - 1]
# make sure you are not trying to remove a folder of which the parent
# folder has just been removed
if (Test-Path -Path $folder.FullName -PathType Container) {
$folder | Remove-Item -Recurse
Write-Host "Folder $($folder.FullName) has been deleted"
}
}
# return True to have the menu rebuilt after a short pause
Start-Sleep 4
$true
}
# main code
$path = 'E:\TestEnv\deleted_images'
while ($true) {
$result = Do-Menu -Path $path
# if the user cancelled, or if there were no folders matching the filter, exit the while loop
if (!$result) { break }
}
cls
Write-Host "`r`nAll done!" -ForegroundColor Green