Bulk Delete Files

About deleting files in bulk

The command line can do this in one line. The reason people do not is that the one line either does nothing or does far too much, and there is no way to tell which until afterwards. del /s *.tmp run from the wrong folder is a bad afternoon.

This tool puts the list first. Set the rules, look at every file that matches and how much space it is using, and only then decide what happens to it.

How to use it

• Click Choose a folder to clean up and pick it
• Set the rules — a file type, a name, a size, an age, or several at once
• Read the list. The total space that would be freed is shown at the top
• Choose Move them into one folder (safe) or Delete them permanently
• Tick the box and press the button — or take a script instead

The rules stack up

Every rule you set has to be true at the same time, so "every .log over 10 MB not touched since January" is one pass, not three.

• Only these types — tmp, log, bak, or any list you like
• Name matches — plain text, with * and ? working as wildcards, so backup* does what you expect. Tick the regex box for something more precise
• Size is bigger / smaller than — find the space hogs, or clear out tiny leftovers
• Last changed before / after — either a number of days (90) or a date (2025-01-01)
• Only zero-byte files — the empty husks a failed copy leaves behind
• Include subfolders — on by default

There is no Recycle Bin here, so there is something better

A web page has no access to the Recycle Bin. It cannot be given access. Deleting through a browser removes the file outright, and nothing in the browser can bring it back.

Pretending otherwise would be the worst thing this tool could do. So the safe option is the default, and it is not a pretend bin either: matching files are moved into one folder — _To Delete unless you rename it. You can look through it, drag anything back where it came from, and delete the folder yourself once you are sure. That is the undo the Recycle Bin would have given you, done honestly.

Permanent deletion is right there when you want it, one deliberate choice away, with its own warning.

Folders are never touched

Only files are ever moved or deleted. A tool that removes a folder removes everything inside it that the filter never looked at, and that is not a risk worth taking for convenience. Use the Empty Folder Finder for the husks left behind afterwards.

The script is switched off

The downloadable .bat or .sh has every line commented out — the same rule the Duplicate File Finder and Empty Folder Finder follow. It arrives as a list you read, not a program that runs the moment it is double-clicked. Take the REM or # off the lines you actually want, and only those run.

The script also says plainly that del and rm do not use the Recycle Bin either.

What people use it for

• Clearing .tmp, .log and .bak files out of a working folder
• Deleting old exports or renders nobody has opened in a year
• Finding and removing the biggest files on a drive that is full
• Cleaning zero-byte files left by a failed copy or download
• Removing .DS_Store, Thumbs.db and other clutter before handing a folder over
• Emptying a downloads folder of everything older than a few months

Good to know

• Nothing happens until you tick the box and press the button — and the tick clears itself whenever the list changes, because agreeing to one set of files is not agreeing to a different one
• Chrome, Edge and Opera can do the work here. Firefox and Safari get the list and the script
• The list shows the first 400 files, sorted biggest first; the action covers every match
• Moving into one folder can produce a name clash, so a clashing file keeps its folder path in the name rather than overwriting the earlier one
• Very large folders are capped at 200,000 items so the page cannot freeze
• Nothing is uploaded, and no file contents are ever read — only names, sizes and dates
• Mobile browsers cannot hand a folder to a web page, so this needs a computer

Related tools

• Duplicate File Finder — delete copies rather than by rule
• Empty Folder Finder — clear the empty folders left behind
• Folder Size Analyzer — find what is actually filling the drive first
• Files Changed Since — see what is old before deciding
• Bulk File Rename — fix names instead of removing files