Command line to recursively delete files but excluding a certain file

Question

I need to delete files of a certain type (.zip files, say) from a folder, and all of its sub-folders, using the command line. Ideally I am looking for something that can be run as a .bat file in Windows.

I know there is a /S switch for the DEL command to look in sub-folders, but to add to the challenge I need to exclude files of a certain name ("Backup.zip" as an example).

Is there a way to delete files recursively but exclude files of a certain name. It will not be practical in my situation to explicitly list all the file names I want to delete, only the files of the matching type I don't want to delete.

Solution 1

A nice trick: make the files you want to exclude read-only!

DEL /S will not delete read-only file.

The following script does not do exactly what you want (see my remarks below) but shows you how read-only files can be used to avoid deletion.

@ECHO OFF
:: This example supposes your first parameter is
:: the relative path to the folder to be deleted
:: and the second is the relative path (from the
:: the target folder) of the one to be excluded
:: Notice that this will only work if the folders
:: are in the working drive, if not, you ll
:: have to specify full paths

IF "%1"=="" GOTO ERROR
IF "%2"=="" GOTO ERROR
IF NOT EXIST %1\NUL GOTO ERROR
CD %1
IF NOT EXIST %2\NUL GOTO ERROR
ECHO Starting up the deletion process
ECHO. * Setting attributes
attrib %1\*.mp3 -r -s -h > NUL
attrib %2\*.mp3 +r > NUL
ECHO. * Deleting files
del /s %1\*.mp3
ECHO. * Reseting attributes
attrib %2\*.mp3 -r > NUL
ECHO.
ECHO Operation completed!
ECHO.
GOTO END

:ERROR
ECHO Parameters:
ECHO. Param1 -> target folder
ECHO. Param2 -> folder to be ignored
ECHO.
GOTO END

:END

Note: you can adapt this script in order to ignore not just a sub-folder but all files of given type:

attrib /S *.xxx +r > NUL

will in effect help you to exclude all 'xxx' files of the current directory and all sub-directories (hence the /S option).

---

Note: the "> NUL" part is a redirection often used to hide standard output, instead of displaying it on screen.
It can be dangerous if used too often (in a large loop with different paths involved, for instance) since it is a device, and like all devices (AUX, COMn, LPTn, NUL and PRN):

• opening a device will claim one file handle. However, unlike files, devices will never be closed until reboot.
• each device exists in every directory on every drive, so if you used redirection to NUL in, say, C:\ and after that you use it again in C:\TEMP, you'll lose another file handle.

Solution 2

Just do this, easy

1. windows button + r
2. type cmd and hit enter
3. Navigate to parent directory:
   type c: or d: (or letter of the drive you want to navigate to)
4. type dir to see a list of that directory's contents ( dir /ah to see hidden files )
5. then to change directory, type cd xxxx ( xxxx = directory name )
6. Repeat 4&5 until you get to the directory where you want to run the batch delete
7. then type your pattern. Something like: del /S /ah *.jpg and hit enter. It will run through all sub-directories, and remove all visible and hidden files that are .jpg files

*   is a wildcard
/S   deletes from all subfolders
/ah   a = select files based on attribute, h = hidden

Example: to delete those annoying .DS_Store files that appear when you copy from Mac to Windows, run:

del /S /ah .DS_Store

or

del /S /ah ._*

which will get all the 'duplicate' hidden files that are also created when copying from Mac to Windows.

Solution 3

You can easily loop a set of files and perform a command on each one, like this:

set match=D:\blah\M*.zip
for %%x in (%match%) do (
del %%x
)

Then I think you need to read this article on how to manipulate strings in DOS: http://www.dostips.com/DtTipsStringManipulation.php

Solution 4

You can simply use below:

forfiles /p C:\temp-new /s /c "cmd /c if @isdir==FALSE del @file"

TechNet Referenceenter link description here

Solution 5

Perhaps the 'forfiles' command could be of use

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753551.aspx

Hope that helps.

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Comments

[Tim C]

I don't yet understand the > NUL bit, but I like the idea of setting the attributes. Cheers!

[Junior Mayhé]

interesting! notice that rd /s your_directory also erases system and hidden files