Command to delete files all files NOT like a wildcard

Question

I've found this link How can I delete files that don't match a wildcard? that is pretty similar to what I want to do but all my files have the same extension and I want to do delete all those that don't match a file name with a wildcard. E.g. I want to keep all files that are "DOC*.PDF" but delete all others like Smith.PDF. I've tried modifying the answer given in the link above but haven't had any success.

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 16 '15 at 23:27

2

Use PowerShell.

get-childitem *.pdf -exclude doc*.pdf | remove-item -whatif

Naturally, the -whatif parameter is for testing purposes. Remove it to actually delete the files.

answered Feb 16 '15 at 23:27

Bill_Stewart

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The would preferable but I'm on Windows Server 2008 (not R2) without powershell. I should have specified. I need the dos cmd line. – Pistol Pete Feb 16 '15 at 23:48

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 17 '15 at 04:01

From the command line:

for /f "eol=: delims=" %F in ('dir /b /a-d *.pdf ^| findstr /biv doc') do @del "%F"

The DIR command lists all .pdf files. The result is piped to FINDSTR which discards files that begin with DOC (case insensitive). The result is processed by FOR /F, and each file is deleted individually.

Double the percents if used within a batch script.

Command to delete files all files NOT like a wildcard

2 Answers2