Windows – How to delete all files that don’t have a certain string in their name

batchfile managementpowershellregexwindows

I have seen Deleting all files that do not match a certain pattern – Windows command line

However, I have not seen anything regarding how to delete everything that does not contain a certain string within its file name.

How can I delete all zip (other files should not be effected) files in a folder and its subfolders that don't have "MS" (case sensitive) in their file name.

These letters may be next to other letters (eg. a file names "ABCMSABC" should be kept because it has "MS" in it, but all other files should be deleted). Multiple files will have "MS" in them.

Best Answer

How can I delete zip files in a folder/subfolders that don't have "MS" in their name?

Use the following batch file:

@echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %%i in (`dir /a:-d /b /s *.zip ^| findstr /v "[\\][^\\]*MS[^\\]*$"` ) do (
  echo del /s /q %%i
)
endlocal

Notes:

Remove the echo when you are happy with what the batch file will do.
Answer updated as per comment by dbenham to allow for directories containing the string "MS"
Answer updated to handle filenames containing spaces.

# Setup source and destination paths
$Src = '\\Server\Apps'
$Dst = 'C:\ReadMeFiles'

# Wildcard for filter
$Extension = '*ReadMe.txt'

# Get file objects recursively
Get-ChildItem -Path $Src -Filter $Extension -Recurse |
    # Skip directories, because XXXReadMe.txt is a valid directory name
    Where-Object {!$_.PsIsContainer} |
        # For each file
        ForEach-Object {

            # If file exist in destination folder, rename it with directory tag
            if(Test-Path -Path (Join-Path -Path $Dst -ChildPath $_.Name))
            {
                # Get full path to the file without drive letter and replace `\` with '-'
                # [regex]::Escape is needed because -replace uses regex, so we should escape '\'
                $NameWithDirTag = (Split-Path -Path $_.FullName -NoQualifier)  -replace [regex]::Escape('\'), '-'

                # Join new file name with destination directory
                $NewPath = Join-Path -Path $Dst -ChildPath $NameWithDirTag
            }
            # Don't modify new file path, if file doesn't exist in target dir
            else
            {
                $NewPath = $Dst
            }

            # Copy file
            Copy-Item -Path $_.FullName -Destination $NewPath
        }

Windows – Recursively delete files that match file name (PowerShell script)

Even if your second script will work, this one is simpler to understand, and may be written in 'better PowerShell' :

$currentfolder = Get-Location
Get-ChildItem -Path $currentfolder -File -Include folder.jpg,albumart*.jpg,desktop.ini -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force -Verbose

Hope this helps !

Windows – How to delete all files that don’t have a certain string in their name

Best Answer

How can I delete zip files in a folder/subfolders that don't have "MS" in their name?

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Best Answer

How can I delete zip files in a folder/subfolders that don't have "MS" in their name?

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Windows – Recursively delete files that match file name (PowerShell script)

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