How to remove files modified between particular dates?

Question

As in the topic: I would like to remove files in a directory that have been modified in a particular date range. How can I do this ?

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 14 '14 at 13:41

18

The command GNU find is the way to go. For example, to delete all files in the current directory between 1 and 5 august, you can use the following command

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -newermt 2011-08-01 ! -newermt 2011-08-06 -delete

It is better to execute the command without the -delete action, first, to see the listing of interested files (a good substitute could be -ls that produce an ls-like listing).

Removing the -maxdepth 1 specification will traverse all subdirectories, too.

You can also specify hours, for example

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -newermt '2011-08-01 10:01:59' \
                         ! -newermt '2011-08-06 23:01:00' -delete

Be warned to not remove single quotes, that protect spaces between date and time.

The character ! is a negation, it should be read: newer that this date but not newer that this other date.

edited Sep 14 '14 at 13:41

Volker Siegel

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answered Aug 14 '11 at 09:38

enzotib

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Thanks for reply. Can I also use something to choose hours' range ? And what is the '!' used for ? – Patryk Aug 14 '11 at 09:44
The ! is a not. In this example: Not newer than 2011-08-06. – con-f-use Aug 14 '11 at 09:47
@lordmonkey: see my editing in the answer – enzotib Aug 14 '11 at 09:50
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+1. I didn't know -delete predicate. Maybe it's not needed, but I will add -type f. – Michał Šrajer Aug 14 '11 at 10:49
@Michał Šrajer: good tips for -type f, I forget that. The -delete is a GNU extensions, I think. – enzotib Aug 14 '11 at 10:52
Edited to add -type f as proposed - it's important that examples are not dangerous. – Volker Siegel Sep 14 '14 at 13:41

How to remove files modified between particular dates?

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