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DᴀʀᴛʜVᴀᴅᴇʀ
Asked: 2013-09-14 10:37:16 +0800 CST

Remove files in a directory based on partial name

  • 772

I wanted to know what is the best way to remove any files no matter what their extension is based on a partial name.

Example:

13-05-12_foo_something.jpg
13-06-01_something.png
13-05-05_foo_site.html

rm everything in a directory and within the sub folders with _foo_ in the name.

command-line

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The simple way:

    cd /path/to/directory
rm *_foo_*

    or 

    rm /path/to/directory/*_foo_*

    The asterisk (*) matches all characters.

    To get explanations about what is being done, use rm with -v option. To be prompted before every removal, use rm with -i option:

    rm -vi *_foo_*

    See man rm for more info.

    • 4

  2. If you want to do it in all subdirectories too, the easiest way is to enable the globstar shell option:

    shopt -s globstar
rm **/*foo_*

    There should be a commented (i.e. starting with a #) line in the default ~/.bashrc (line 29 in mine): 

    # shopt -s globstar extglob

    Just uncomment that line and you'll have access to some improved bash features.

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