Batch file to delete files older than N days

Expanding on aku's answer, I see a lot of people asking about UNC paths. Simply mapping the unc path to a drive letter will make forfiles happy. Mapping and unmapping of drives can be done programmatically in a batch file, for example.

net use Z: /delete
net use Z: \\unc\path\to\my\folder
forfiles /p Z: /s /m *.gz /D -7 /C "cmd /c del @path"

This will delete all files with a .gz extension that are older than 7 days. If you want to make sure Z: isn't mapped to anything else before using it you could do something simple as

net use Z: \\unc\path\to\my\folder
if %errorlevel% equ 0 (
forfiles /p Z: /s /m *.gz /D -7 /C "cmd /c del @path"
) else (
echo "Z: is already in use, please use another drive letter!"
)

How about this modification on [7daysclean.cmd](

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) to take a leap year into account?

It can be done in less than 10 lines of coding!

set /a Leap=0
if (Month GEQ 2 and ((Years%4 EQL 0 and Years%100 NEQ 0) or Years%400 EQL 0)) set /a Leap=day
set /a Months=!_months!+Leap

---

__Edit by Mofi:__

The condition above contributed by [J.R.](

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) evaluates always to __false__ because of invalid syntax.

And `Month GEQ 2` is also wrong because adding 86400 seconds for one more day must be done in a leap year only for the months March to December, but not for February.

A working code to take leap day into account - in current year only - in batch file __7daysclean.cmd__ posted by [Jay](

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) would be:

set "LeapDaySecs=0"
if %Month% LEQ 2 goto CalcMonths
set /a "LeapRule=Years%%4"
if %LeapRule% NEQ 0 goto CalcMonths
rem The other 2 rules can be ignored up to year 2100.
set /A "LeapDaySecs=day"
:CalcMonths
set /a Months=!_months!+LeapDaySecs

Might I add a humble contribution to this already valuable thread. I'm finding that other solutions might get rid of the actual error text but are ignoring the %ERRORLEVEL% which signals a fail in my application. AND I legitimately want %ERRORLEVEL% just as long as it isn't the "No files found" error.

**Some Examples:**

**Debugging and eliminating the error specifically:**

forfiles /p "[file path...]\IDOC_ARCHIVE" /s /m *.txt /d -1 /c "cmd /c del @path" 2>&1 | findstr /V /O /C:"ERROR: No files found with the specified search criteria."2>&1 | findstr ERROR&&ECHO found error||echo found success

**Using a oneliner to return ERRORLEVEL success or failure:**

forfiles /p "[file path...]\IDOC_ARCHIVE" /s /m *.txt /d -1 /c "cmd /c del @path" 2>&1 | findstr /V /O /C:"ERROR: No files found with the specified search criteria."2>&1 | findstr ERROR&&EXIT /B 1||EXIT /B 0

**Using a oneliner to keep the ERRORLEVEL at zero for success within the context of a batchfile in the midst of other code (ver > nul resets the ERRORLEVEL):**

forfiles /p "[file path...]\IDOC_ARCHIVE" /s /m *.txt /d -1 /c "cmd /c del @path" 2>&1 | findstr /V /O /C:"ERROR: No files found with the specified search criteria."2>&1 | findstr ERROR&&ECHO found error||ver > nul

**For a SQL Server Agent CmdExec job step I landed on the following. I don't know if it's a bug, but the CmdExec within the step only recognizes the first line of code:**

cmd /e:on /c "forfiles /p "C:\SQLADMIN\MAINTREPORTS\SQL2" /s /m *.txt /d -1 /c "cmd /c del @path" 2>&1 | findstr /V /O /C:"ERROR: No files found with the specified search criteria."2>&1 | findstr ERROR&&EXIT 1||EXIT 0"&exit %errorlevel%

I think [e.James's answer](

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) is good since it works with unmodified versions of Windows as early as Windows 2000 SP4 (and possibly earlier), but it required writing to an external file. Here is a modified version that does not create an external text file while maintaining the compatibility:

REM del_old.cmd
REM usage: del_old MM-DD-YYYY
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
for /f "tokens=*" %%a IN ('xcopy *.* /d:%1 /L /I null') do @if exist "%%~nxa" set "excludefiles=!excludefiles!;;%%~nxa;;"
for /f "tokens=*" %%a IN ('dir /b') do @(@echo "%excludefiles%"|FINDSTR /C:";;%%a;;">nul || if exist "%%~nxa" DEL /F /Q "%%a">nul 2>&1)


To be true to the original question, here it is in a script that does ALL the math for you if you call it with the number of days as the parameter:

REM del_old_compute.cmd
REM usage: del_old_compute N
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set /a days=%1&set cur_y=%DATE:~10,4%&set cur_m=%DATE:~4,2%&set cur_d=%DATE:~7,2%
for /f "tokens=1 delims==" %%a in ('set cur_') do if "!%%a:~0,1!"=="0" set /a %%a=!%%a:~1,1!+0
set mo_2=28&set /a leapyear=cur_y*10/4
if %leapyear:~-1% equ 0 set mo_2=29
set mo_1=31&set mo_3=31&set mo_4=30&set mo_5=31
set mo_6=30&set mo_7=31&set mo_8=31&set mo_9=30
set mo_10=31&set mo_11=30&set mo_12=31
set /a past_y=(days/365)
set /a monthdays=days-((past_y*365)+((past_y/4)*1))&&set /a past_y=cur_y-past_y&set months=0
:setmonth
set /a minusmonth=(cur_m-1)-months
if %minusmonth% leq 0 set /a minusmonth+=12
set /a checkdays=(mo_%minusmonth%)
if %monthdays% geq %checkdays% set /a months+=1&set /a monthdays-=checkdays&goto :setmonth
set /a past_m=cur_m-months
set /a lastmonth=cur_m-1
if %lastmonth% leq 0 set /a lastmonth+=12
set /a lastmonth=mo_%lastmonth%
set /a past_d=cur_d-monthdays&set adddays=::
if %past_d% leq 0 (set /a past_m-=1&set adddays=)
if %past_m% leq 0 (set /a past_m+=12&set /a past_y-=1)
set mo_2=28&set /a leapyear=past_y*10/4
if %leapyear:~-1% equ 0 set mo_2=29
%adddays%set /a past_d+=mo_%past_m%
set d=%past_m%-%past_d%-%past_y%
for /f "tokens=*" %%a IN ('xcopy *.* /d:%d% /L /I null') do @if exist "%%~nxa" set "excludefiles=!excludefiles!;;%%~nxa;;"
for /f "tokens=*" %%a IN ('dir /b') do @(@echo "%excludefiles%"|FINDSTR /C:";;%%a;;">nul || if exist "%%~nxa" DEL /F /Q "%%a">nul 2>&1)


NOTE: The code above takes into account leap years, as well as the exact number of days in each month. The only maximum is the total number of days there have been since 0/0/0 (after that it returns negative years).

NOTE: The math only goes one way; it cannot correctly get future dates from negative input (it will try, but will likely go past the last day of the month).

Run the following [commands][1]:

ROBOCOPY C:\source C:\destination /mov /minage:7
del C:\destination /q

Move all the files (using /mov, which moves files and then deletes them as opposed to /move which moves whole filetrees which are then deleted) via robocopy to another location, and then execute a delete command on that path and you're all good.

Also if you have a directory with lots of data in it you can use `/mir` switch


[1]:

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**ROBOCOPY** works great for me. Originally suggested my Iman. But instead of moving the files/folders to a temporary directory then deleting the contents of the temporary folder, **move the files to the trash!!!**

This is is a few lines of my backup batch file for example:

SET FilesToClean1=C:\Users\pauls12\Temp
SET FilesToClean2=C:\Users\pauls12\Desktop\1616 - Champlain\Engineering\CAD\Backups

SET RecycleBin=C:\$Recycle.Bin\S-1-5-21-1480896384-1411656790-2242726676-748474

robocopy "%FilesToClean1%" "%RecycleBin%" /mov /MINLAD:15 /XA:SH /NC /NDL /NJH /NS /NP /NJS
robocopy "%FilesToClean2%" "%RecycleBin%" /mov /MINLAD:30 /XA:SH /NC /NDL /NJH /NS /NP /NJS

It cleans anything older than 15 days out of my 'Temp' folder and 30 days for anything in my AutoCAD backup folder. I use variables because the line can get quite long and I can reuse them for other locations. You just need to find the dos path to your recycle bin associated with your login.

This is on a work computer for me and it works. I understand that some of you may have more restrictive rights but give it a try anyway;) Search Google for explanations on the ROBOCOPY parameters.

Cheers!

This one did it for me. It works with a date and you can substract the wanted amount in years to go back in time:

@echo off

set m=%date:~-7,2%
set /A m
set dateYear=%date:~-4,4%
set /A dateYear -= 2
set DATE_DIR=%date:~-10,2%.%m%.%dateYear%

forfiles /p "C:\your\path\here\" /s /m *.* /d -%DATE_DIR% /c "cmd /c del @path /F"

pause

the `/F` in the `cmd /c del @path /F` forces the specific file to be deleted in some the cases the file can be read-only.

the `dateYear` is the year Variable and there you can change the substract to your own needs

My script to delete files older than a specific year :

@REM _______ GENERATE A CMD TO DELETE FILES OLDER THAN A GIVEN YEAR
@REM _______ (given in _olderthanyear variable)
@REM _______ (you must LOCALIZE the script depending on the dir cmd console output)
@REM _______ (we assume here the following line's format "11/06/2017 15:04 58 389 SpeechToText.zip")

@set _targetdir=c:\temp
@set _olderthanyear=2017

@set _outfile1="%temp%\deleteoldfiles.1.tmp.txt"
@set _outfile2="%temp%\deleteoldfiles.2.tmp.txt"

@if not exist "%_targetdir%" (call :process_error 1 DIR_NOT_FOUND "%_targetdir%") & (goto :end)

:main
@dir /a-d-h-s /s /b %_targetdir%\*>%_outfile1%
@for /F "tokens=*" %%F in ('type %_outfile1%') do @call :process_file_path "%%F" %_outfile2%
@goto :end

:end
@rem ___ cleanup and exit
@if exist %_outfile1% del %_outfile1%
@if exist %_outfile2% del %_outfile2%
@goto :eof

:process_file_path %1 %2
@rem ___ get date info of the %1 file path
@dir %1 | find "/" | find ":" > %2
@for /F "tokens=*" %%L in ('type %2') do @call :process_line "%%L" %1
@goto :eof

:process_line %1 %2
@rem ___ generate a del command for each file older than %_olderthanyear%
@set _var=%1
@rem LOCALIZE HERE (char-offset,string-length)
@set _fileyear=%_var:~0,4%
@set _fileyear=%_var:~7,4%
@set _filepath=%2
@if %_fileyear% LSS %_olderthanyear% echo @REM %_fileyear%
@if %_fileyear% LSS %_olderthanyear% echo @del %_filepath%
@goto :eof

:process_error %1 %2
@echo RC=%1 MSG=%2 %3
@goto :eof

Ok was bored a bit and came up with this, which contains my version of a poor man's Linux epoch replacement limited for daily usage (no time retention):

7daysclean.cmd

@echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
set day=86400
set /a year=day*365
set /a strip=day*7
set dSource=C:\temp

call :epoch %date%
set /a slice=epoch-strip

for /f "delims=" %%f in ('dir /a-d-h-s /b /s %dSource%') do (
call :epoch %%~tf
if !epoch! LEQ %slice% (echo DELETE %%f ^(%%~tf^)) ELSE echo keep %%f ^(%%~tf^)
)
exit /b 0

rem Args[1]: Year-Month-Day
:epoch
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
for /f "tokens=1,2,3 delims=-" %%d in ('echo %1') do set Years=%%d& set Months=%%e& set Days=%%f
if "!Months:~0,1!"=="0" set Months=!Months:~1,1!
if "!Days:~0,1!"=="0" set Days=!Days:~1,1!
set /a Days=Days*day
set /a _months=0
set i=1&& for %%m in (31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31) do if !i! LSS !Months! (set /a _months=!_months! + %%m*day&& set /a i+=1)
set /a Months=!_months!
set /a Years=(Years-1970)*year
set /a Epoch=Years+Months+Days
endlocal& set Epoch=%Epoch%
exit /b 0

USAGE
-----

`set /a strip=day*7` : Change **7** for the number of days to keep.

`set dSource=C:\temp` : This is the starting directory to check for files.

NOTES
-----

This is non-destructive code, it will display what would have happened.

Change :

if !epoch! LEQ %slice% (echo DELETE %%f ^(%%~tf^)) ELSE echo keep %%f ^(%%~tf^)

to something like :

if !epoch! LEQ %slice% del /f %%f

so files actually get deleted

**February**: is hard-coded to 28 days. Bissextile years is a hell to add, really. if someone has an idea that would not add 10 lines of code, go ahead and post so I add it to my code.

**epoch**: I did not take time into consideration, as the need is to delete files older than a certain date, taking hours/minutes would have deleted files from a day that was meant for keeping.

LIMITATION
----------

**epoch** takes for granted your short date format is YYYY-MM-DD. It would need to be adapted for other settings or a run-time evaluation (read sShortTime, user-bound configuration, configure proper field order in a filter and use the filter to extract the correct data from the argument).

Did I mention I hate this editor's auto-formating? it removes the blank lines and the copy-paste is a hell.

I hope this helps.

Gosh, a lot of answers already. A simple and convenient route I found was to execute ROBOCOPY.EXE twice in sequential order from a single Windows command line instruction using the **&** parameter.
```
ROBOCOPY.EXE SOURCE-DIR TARGET-DIR *.* /MOV /MINAGE:30 & ROBOCOPY.EXE SOURCE-DIR TARGET-DIR *.* /MOV /MINAGE:30 /PURGE
```

In this example it works by picking all files (*.*) that are older than 30 days old and moving them to the target folder. The second command does the same again with the addition of the **PURGE** command which means remove files in the target folder that don’t exist in the source folder.
So essentially, the first command MOVES files and the second DELETES because they no longer exist in the source folder when the second command is invoked.

Consult ROBOCOPY's documentation and use the /L switch when testing.