Solved delete all files & directories except three files

bonky · Mar 16, 2026

Hello all.... i have a request for help....

Im trying to delete all files & directories except three files, in my search in google I came across this

(for /f "tokens=*" %f in ('dir /a:-d /b 2^>nul ^| findstr /v /b /e /c:"test1.txt"') do (del /f "%f")) & (for /f "tokens=*" %f in ('dir /a:-d /b 2^>nul ^| findstr /v /b /e /c:"test1.txt"') do (rmdir /q /s "%f"))

it works... BUT.... I have to be already in that directory (CD\ etc etc) is it poss to ajust this script to delete no matter where i am for the "%userprofile%\downloads\test" ?

also to add another two files to this not to be touched (I know I can attrib +r, but would like to have one line command if poss)

bonky · Mar 16, 2026

this works for protecting three files....

for %i in (*) do if not "%~i" == "test.txt" if not "%~i" == "test1.txt" if not "%~i" == "test2.txt" del "%~i"

as above post I have to be already in that directory (CD\ etc etc) is it poss to ajust this script to delete no matter where i am for the "%userprofile%\downloads\test" ?

this command doesnt remove directories in the "%userprofile%\downloads\test" (which I want)

AgathePower · Mar 16, 2026

Hello!

Ether add pushd your\dir\path && before the script, or add your\dir\path\ in dir argument command and in del filename.

pushd changes dir, and popd come back to previous dir.

Full example:

pushd your\dir\path && for %i in (*) do if not "%~i" == "test.txt" if not "%~i" == "test1.txt" if not "%~i" == "test2.txt" del "%~i" && popd

bonky · Mar 16, 2026

oh wow!! I didnt know that command!! thank you...

how would I include a RMDIR command in that ? (delete all folders)

garlin · Mar 16, 2026

You probably didn't want an answer in PowerShell, but here's an example of why it's much easier to write this in PS.

Code:

$MyFolderPath = "\path\myfolder"

# Recursively remove files except for an exclusion list
# Separate the excluded filenames by a comma ","
#
Get-ChildItem -Path $MyFolderPath -File -Recurse -Exclude *BitLocker*,*README*,*WhatsMy* | Remove-Item

# Recursively remove all empty folders
Get-ChildItem -Path $MyFolderPath -Directory -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.GetFileSystemInfos().Count -eq 0 } | Remove-Item

bonky · Mar 16, 2026

I can run PS from CMD line,

can you do it on all folders... rather than 0k size ?

garlin · Mar 16, 2026

The first Get-ChildItem returns every single file below a folder path, except for the excluded list.

The second Get-ChildItem returns a list of subfolders which are empty (no files). We don't want to remove the folders that still contain excluded files, because that would delete the files we wanted to keep.

You can't combine the two actions in one command, since the exclude files doesn't protect against a file's own folder from getting removed. They just didn't design the command that way.

pseymour · Mar 16, 2026

Just for the sake of picking nits, the removal of empty folders won't work if a folder contains only empty folders. For example, if you have 'My Folder\Something', and Something contains A through D folders that are empty, those A-D folders will get deleted, but Something will not.

You need to do it with a recursive function or something like this...

Powershell:

while ($true) {
    $empty = Get-ChildItem -Path 'D:\A Folder' -Directory -Recurse | Where-Object { -not (Get-ChildItem -Path $_.FullName) }
    if (-not $empty) { break }
    $empty | Remove-Item
}

garlin · Mar 16, 2026

I think you can do a depth-first search with something like:

Code:

Get-ChildItem "\path\folder" -Directory -Recurse).FullName | Sort-Object -Descending | Where-Object { (Get-Item $_).GetFileSystemInfos().Count-eq 0 } | ForEach-Object { Remove-Item $_ }

pseymour · Mar 16, 2026

I had to move the FullName bit to the right a little, but yep that works.

Powershell:

Get-ChildItem -Path 'D:\Ice Cream' -Directory -Recurse | Sort-Object -Property 'FullName' -Descending | Where-Object { (Get-Item $_).GetFileSystemInfos().Count-eq 0 } | ForEach-Object { Remove-Item $_ }

Edit: I see what you meant... missing a ( at the beginning though.

garlin · Mar 16, 2026

Updated script:

Code:

$MyFolderPath = "\path\myfolder"

# Recursively remove files except for an exclusion list
# Separate the excluded filenames by a comma ","
#
Get-ChildItem -Path $MyFolderPath -File -Recurse -Exclude *BitLocker*,*README*,*WhatsMy* | Remove-Item

# Recursively remove all empty folders
(Get-ChildItem -Path $MyFolderPath -Directory -Recurse).FullName | Sort-Object -Descending | Where-Object { (Get-Item $_).GetFileSystemInfos().Count-eq 0 } | ForEach-Object { Remove-Item $_ }

Solved delete all files & directories except three files

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