Automatic file deletion based on file age

Does anyone know of a good way to delete files based on their age and have it done periodically, say using a batch file and windows scheduler? (Or any other decent software that would do this as well)

From serverfault jjrab

• Yes, I've got one we use. Found it online and made some modifications to it.

  This would be run as

  deletefiles.bat 5 C:\Temp *.LOG 1

  and would delete all the log files in C:\Temp and its subdirectories more than 5 days old

  Ah, found the original post

  @echo off
  
  CLS
  :HouseKeeping
  REM Start Time
  REM This will load the current time into 'Start' variables.
  REM.
  Set Start_Time=%time%
  FOR /f "tokens=1-3 delims=:." %%a in ('echo %time%') do (
  set Start_hh=%%a
  set Start_mm=%%b
  set Start_ss=%%c
  )
  
  FOR /f "tokens=1-3 delims=: " %%a in ('time /t') do (set Start_Meridan=%%c)
  Echo Start Time: %Start_hh%:%Start_mm%:%Start_ss% %Start_Meridan%
  REM Echo Start Time: %Start_hh%:%Start_mm%:%Start_ss%
  
  Set Delete_Counter=0
  Set FChecked_Counter=0
  Set Total_Files=0
  Set Finish_day=0
  SET OLDERTHAN=%1
  SET FileDir=%~2
  SET EXT=%3
  SET Sub_Dir=%4
  SET Force_Check=%5
  IF NOT DEFINED OLDERTHAN GOTO SYNTAX
  IF NOT DEFINED FileDir GOTO SYNTAX
  IF NOT DEFINED EXT GOTO SYNTAX
  IF NOT DEFINED Force_Check Goto Get_Date
  IF DEFINED Force_Check Goto Read_Only
  Goto Exit
  
  :Read_Only
  IF %Force_Check%==1 set Force_Delete=/F
  Goto Get_Date
  
  REM Get Todays Date
  :Get_Date
  FOR /f "tokens=1-4 delims=/- " %%a in ('date /t') do (
  set xx=%%a
  set mm=%%b
  set dd=%%c
  set yyyy=%%d
  )
  
  set /A mm=%mm%+0
  if %dd%==01 set dd=1
  if %dd%==02 set dd=2
  if %dd%==03 set dd=3
  if %dd%==04 set dd=4
  if %dd%==05 set dd=5
  if %dd%==06 set dd=6
  if %dd%==07 set dd=7
  if %dd%==08 set dd=8
  if %dd%==09 set dd=9
  set /A dd=%dd%+0
  set /A dd=%dd% - %OLDERTHAN%
  set /A yyyy=%yyyy%+0
  :LOOPDATE
  
  if /I %dd% GTR 0 Goto DONE
  set /A mm=%mm% - 1
  if /I %mm% GTR 0 Goto ADJUSTDAY
  set /A mm=12
  set /A yyyy=%yyyy% - 1
  :ADJUSTDAY
  if %mm%==1 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==2 Goto LEAPCHK
  if %mm%==3 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==4 Goto SET30
  if %mm%==5 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==6 Goto SET30
  if %mm%==7 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==8 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==9 Goto SET30
  if %mm%==10 Goto SET31
  if %mm%==11 Goto SET30
  if %mm%==12 Goto SET31
  :SET31
  set /A dd=31 + %dd%
  Goto LOOPDATE
  
  :SET30
  set /A dd=30 + %dd%
  Goto LOOPDATE
  
  :LEAPCHK
  set /A tt=%yyyy% %% 4
  if not %tt%==0 Goto SET28
  set /A tt=%yyyy% %% 100
  if not %tt%==0 Goto SET29
  set /A tt=%yyyy% %% 400
  if %tt%==0 Goto SET29
  
  :SET28
  set /A dd=28 + %dd%
  Goto LOOPDATE
  
  :SET29
  set /A dd=29 + %dd%
  
  :DONE
  if /i %dd% LSS 10 set dd=0%dd%
  rem if /I %mm% LSS 10 set mm=0%mm%
  
  :Search_Type
  IF NOT DEFINED Sub_Dir GOTO No_Sub_Dir
  If %Sub_Dir%==0 Goto :No_Sub_Dir
  If %Sub_Dir%==1 Goto :Sub_Directory
  Else Goto :No_Sub_Dir
  
  :No_Sub_Dir
  for %%i in (%FileDir%\%EXT%) do (
  set FileName=%%i
  call :PROCESSFILE %%~ti)
  
  Goto Print_Results
  
  :Sub_Directory
  for /R %FileDir% %%i in (%EXT%) DO (
  set FileName=%%i
  call :PROCESSFILE %%~ti)
  Goto Print_Results
  
  :Print_Results
  Echo.
  Echo The number of files deleted : %Delete_Counter%
  Echo.
  Echo The number of files passed over : %FChecked_Counter%
  Echo.
  Echo The Total number of files processed: %Total_Files%
  Echo.
  Goto Get_Finish_Time
  
  :Get_Finish_Time
  REM This will load the current time into 'Finish' variables.
  REM.
  FOR /f "tokens=1-3 delims=:." %%a in ('echo %time%') do (
  set Finish_hh=%%a
  set Finish_mm=%%b
  set Finish_ss=%%c
  )
  FOR /f "tokens=1-3 delims=: " %%a in ('time /t') do (set Finish_Meridan=%%c)
  Goto Calculate_Time
  
  :Calculate_Time
  REM Calculate the difference in time between Start and Finish times
  REM.
  
  IF %Start_ss% GTR %Finish_ss% (
  set /A Finish_ss=%Finish_ss%+60
  set /A Finish_mm=%Finish_mm%-1
  )
  set /A Diff_ss=%Finish_ss%-%Start_ss%
  
  IF %Start_mm% GTR %Finish_mm% (
  set /A Finish_mm=%Finish_mm%+60
  set /A Finish_hh=%Finish_hh%-1
  )
  set /A Diff_mm=%Finish_mm%-%Start_mm%
  
  IF %Start_hh% GTR %Finish_hh% (
  set /A Finish_hh=%Finish_hh%+24
  set Finish_day=1
  )
  set /A Diff_hh=%Finish_hh%-%Start_hh%
  
  REM The follow will adjust for negative time values.
  REM.
  REM if %Diff_hh% LSS 0 (set /A Diff_hh=%Diff_hh%+23)
  REM if %Diff_mm% LSS 0 (set /A Diff_mm=%Diff_mm%+59)
  REM if %Diff_ss% LSS 0 (set /A Diff_ss=%Diff_ss%+59)
  REM The following will compensate for single digit results.
  REM.
  if %Diff_hh%==0 set Diff_hh=00
  if %Diff_hh%==1 set Diff_hh=01
  if %Diff_hh%==2 set Diff_hh=02
  if %Diff_hh%==3 set Diff_hh=03
  if %Diff_hh%==4 set Diff_hh=04
  if %Diff_hh%==5 set Diff_hh=05
  if %Diff_hh%==6 set Diff_hh=06
  if %Diff_hh%==7 set Diff_hh=07
  if %Diff_hh%==8 set Diff_hh=08
  if %Diff_hh%==9 set Diff_hh=09
  if %Diff_mm%==0 set Diff_mm=00
  if %Diff_mm%==1 set Diff_mm=01
  if %Diff_mm%==2 set Diff_mm=02
  if %Diff_mm%==3 set Diff_mm=03
  if %Diff_mm%==4 set Diff_mm=04
  if %Diff_mm%==5 set Diff_mm=05
  if %Diff_mm%==6 set Diff_mm=06
  if %Diff_mm%==7 set Diff_mm=07
  if %Diff_mm%==8 set Diff_mm=08
  if %Diff_mm%==9 set Diff_mm=09
  if %Diff_ss%==0 set Diff_ss=00
  if %Diff_ss%==1 set Diff_ss=01
  if %Diff_ss%==2 set Diff_ss=02
  if %Diff_ss%==3 set Diff_ss=03
  if %Diff_ss%==4 set Diff_ss=04
  if %Diff_ss%==5 set Diff_ss=05
  if %Diff_ss%==6 set Diff_ss=06
  if %Diff_ss%==7 set Diff_ss=07
  if %Diff_ss%==8 set Diff_ss=08
  if %Diff_ss%==9 set Diff_ss=09
  Goto Print_Time
  
  :Print_Time
  REM This will return the results to the user.
  REM.
  Set End_Time=%time%
  Echo.
  Echo The program started at: %Start_Time% %Start_Meridan%
  Echo The program ended at : %End_Time% %Finish_Meridan%
  Echo hh:mm:ss.mm
  Echo.
  Echo This is the amount of time elapsed from the
  Echo start to the end of the program executing.
  Echo.
  Echo %Diff_hh%:%Diff_mm%:%Diff_ss%
  Echo hh:mm:ss
  Echo. Number of Days Elapsed: %Finish_day%
  
  Goto Reset_Variables
  
  :Reset_Variables
  
  REM The following will reset the variables used by this program.
  REM A.K.A. cleaning up.
  set mm=
  set yyyy=
  set dd=
  set thedate=
  set xx=
  set tt=
  set FileDir=
  set FileName=
  set ext=
  set OlderThan=
  set Sub_Dir=
  set Delete_Counter=
  set Total_Files=
  set FChecked_Counter=
  set Force_Check=
  set Force_Delete=
  set Diff_hh=
  set Diff_mm=
  set Diff_ss=
  set Start_hh=
  set Start_mm=
  set Start_ss=
  set Start_Meridan=
  set Finish_hh=
  set Finish_mm=
  set Finish_ss=
  set Finish_Meridan=
  set mm=
  set hh=
  set ss=
  set Start_Time=
  set End_Time=
  set Finish_day=
  Goto Exit
  
  
  GOTO Exit
  
  :PROCESSFILE
  set temp=%1
  set fyyyy=%temp:~6%
  
  if /I %fyyyy% LSS 100 set fyyyy=20%fyyyy%
  if /I %fyyyy% GTR 2069 set fyyyy=19%temp:~6%
  
  set fmm=%temp:~0,2%
  set fdd=%temp:~3,2%
  
  :: +*************************************+
  :: | This is where the files are deleted |
  :: | Change the DIR command to DEL to |
  :: | delete. DIR is used for test. |
  :: +*************************************+
  
  if /I %yyyy%/%mm%/%dd% GEQ %fyyyy%/%fmm%/%fdd% (
  rem Echo %yyyy%/%mm%/%dd% "- The selected file will be deleted.  F: " %fyyyy%/%fmm%/%fdd% %FileName% >> files.txt
  echo %FileName% >> d:\deletelog%yyyy%-%mm%-%dd%.txt
  del %FileName% >> d:\deletelog%yyyy%-%mm%-%dd%.txt
  rem Dir %Force_Delete% "%FileName%"
  Set /A Delete_Counter=%Delete_Counter%+1
  Set /A Total_Files=%Total_Files%+1
  Echo.
  ) Else (
  rem Echo %yyyy%/%mm%/%dd% " - The selected file does not qualify for deletion. F: " %fyyyy%/%fmm%/%fdd% %FileName%  "%FileName%" >> files.txt
  Set /A FChecked_Counter=%FChecked_Counter%+1
  Set /A Total_Files=%Total_Files%+1
  Echo.) 
  
  set temp=
  set fyyyy=
  set fmm=
  set fdd=
  
  :EXIT
  

  Jessica McKinnon : OMG, that's one of the longest scripts that I have seen in a the longest time that does something that you can do with a single command ;-) ServerFault should introduce an award for this kind of post... this script almost make calculating 5+5 using one's fingers seem high-tech!
  From dubRun

• You can use the forfiles commnad. Just use the windows scheduler to schedule it directly.

  Some more examples.

  From Igal Serban

• Here's a Powershell script you can use in a scheduled task. (Also used this in this answer for purging IIS log files).

  set-location [enter-path-to-folder]
  foreach ($File in get-childitem) {
     if ($File.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)) {
        del $File
     }
  }
  

  Change the folder path to your target, tweak AddDays as appropriate. -30 removes things older than 30 days.

  From squillman

• +1 for 'forfiles"

  here's what I use in a batch file that runs nightly:

  forfiles -pE:\myfolder\mysubfolder -m*.* -d-5 -c"cmd /C del /q @FILE"

  jjrab : Perfect - this is exactly what I'm looking for, thanks a bunch!
  From dogmanky