How to Use PowerShell to Delete Files Listed in a CSV Based on Age

Learn how to efficiently remove files from a CSV in PowerShell if they are older than a specified number of days, ensuring a streamlined file management process.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/68299191/ asked by the user 'TonyV' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/16405867/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/68299345/ provided by the user 'Jonathan Waring' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/3162667/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: Powershell to remove files from CSV older than x days

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
How to Use PowerShell to Delete Files Listed in a CSV Based on Age

Managing files and their lifecycles on your computer can often become a tedious task, especially when you need to clear out files that are no longer relevant. If you have a list of files in a CSV format and wish to delete those that are older than a certain number of days, this guide is for you. We’ll guide you through using PowerShell to achieve this efficiently.

The Problem

You might find yourself in a situation where you have a CSV file containing a list of file paths and you want to remove files that are older than a specified number of days. In your case, you’ve already created a CSV file, and began developing a PowerShell script but encountered an issue where the script deletes files regardless of age criteria. Here's an example of the CSV:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution

To properly delete files based on their last modified date, we need to ensure that we retrieve the correct properties of each file. Below we will guide you through the updated script you can use in PowerShell to check each file's last write time before deciding to delete it.

Updated Script

The improved script includes an important addition: using Get-Item to get the file properties, specifically the LastWriteTime. You can follow the updated code below:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

How the Script Works

Set the Deletion Date: The variable $DatetoDelete is set to the current date minus the number of days you want to check (365 days in this case). This means that files changed more than 365 days ago will be targeted for deletion.

Read the CSV: Get-Content reads the CSV file line by line. Each line represents a file path.

Trimming Whitespace: The Trim() method eliminates any leading or trailing whitespace from the file path.

Gathering File Properties: Get-Item -Path $_ retrieves the file and all its properties, including LastWriteTime.

Filtering Old Files: Using Where-Object, the script checks if the LastWriteTime of each file is older than the date specified in $DatetoDelete.

Deleting Files: If a file meets the criteria, Remove-Item -Force is called to delete it without prompt.

Important Notes

Testing: It’s advisable to test your script with a small CSV file containing dummy data to ensure it works correctly before executing it on your actual files.

Backup: Always back up important files before running deletion scripts to prevent accidental data loss.

Final Thoughts

With this PowerShell script, you can efficiently manage your files by removing outdated ones listed in a CSV. Each component of the script works together to ensure that only the correct files are deleted based on their last modified dates. By implementing this method, not only do you clean up your file system but also streamline your file management process.

Feel free to reach out if you run into issues or have questions on specific parts of the script! Happy scripting!

Видео How to Use PowerShell to Delete Files Listed in a CSV Based on Age канала vlogize