Delete every subfolder in a directory that doesn't contain certain extensions

Question

Question: Is it possible to delete every folder in a certain directory that does not contain specific file types for example music files (mp3/flac/wav/etc)?

I've retagged some files using Mp3Tag which also moves them into a new folder structure:

\Artist\Album\Artist Name - Album - Track Number - Track.ext

This results in the old subfolders without any music files (mp3/flac/wav/etc) while leaving remnants of cover.jpg or log files and etc.

So for example, in the image above I want to delete "\Adele - 25 Album". Ultimately, I want to delete any subfolders without any music files (mp3/flac/wav/etc).

I've taken some hard stabs at this but I can't really come up with anything fruitful and having a hard time with it too. I wonder if someone could help me with some guidance for this task.

Answer 1

• Update:

Deleting folder with { and/or [ in the name, by invoking:

cmd.exe /s rm some_folder_with_{special}_character_they_[name]`:

cmd /v/s/c "del /q /f "%%~dpnxi*.*" && rmdir /q "%%~dpnxi" && echo\Deleted:"%%~dpnxi"

@echo off && setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set "_mp3dir=F:\SUPER_USER\Q1507690\Organize"
set "_filter=%temp%\_filter_audio_!random!.log"

set "_audios=aa3,aac,aif,flac,m3u,m4a,mka,mp3,mpa,mpc,oga,ogg,pla,wav,wma"
type nul >"!_filter!" && for %%i in (!_audios!)do >>"!_filter!" echo=.%%~i

for /d /r "%_mp3dir%" %%i in (*)do tree /a /f "%%~fi"|find "\-" >nul || set "_rm_dir=yEp" && (for /f tokens^=* %%# in ('
     2^>nul %__APPDIR__%where.exe "%%~dpnxi:*"')do type "!_filter!" | find /i "%%~x#" >nul && set "_rm_dir=nOp"
     if "!_rm_dir!"=="yEp" cmd /v/s/c "echo\del /q /f "%%~dpnxi\*.*" && echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpnxi" && echo\Deleted:"%%~dpnxi"
     )

set "_filter="<nul & del /q /f "%temp%\_filter_audio_*.log" & endlocal & goto :EOF

Test and if its seems zOk to you, just remove this echo command below:

if "!_rm_dir!"=="yEp" cmd /v/s/c "echo\del /q /f "%%~dpnxi*.*" && echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpnxi" && echo\Deleted:"%%~dpnxi"

@echo off && setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

set "_mp3dir=F:\Organize"
set "_filter=%temp%\_filter_audio_!random!.log"

set "_audios=aa3,aac,aif,flac,m3u,m4a,mka,mp3,mpa,mpc,oga,ogg,pla,wav,wma"
type nul >"!_filter!" && for %%i in (!_audios!)do >>"!_filter!" echo=.%%~i

for /d /r "%_mp3dir%" %%i in (*)do tree /a /f "%%~fi"|find "\-" >nul || set "_rm_dir=yEp" && (for /f tokens^=* %%# in ('
     2^>nul %__APPDIR__%where.exe "%%~dpni:*"')do type "!_filter!" | find /i "%%~x#" >nul && set "_rm_dir=nOp"
     if /i "!_rm_dir!" == "yEp" echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpni" ^&^& Folder: "%%~dpni" was deleted^!!
    )

set "_filter="<nul & del /q /f "%temp%\_filter_audio_*.log" & endlocal & goto :EOF

1. Define (set) all the necessary extensions to keep your audio files in the folder tree:

set "_audios=aa3,aac,aif,flac,m3u,m4a,mka,mp3,mpa,mpc,oga,ogg,pla,wav,wma"

2. Save all extensions in a file to use with findstr when checking the output of the listing for each folder (the last one at each level), using a for loop in the _audios variable previously defined:

type nul >"!_filter!" && for %%i in (!_audios!)do >>"!_filter!" echo=.%%~i

3. Use a specific loop for folders and recursive (for /d /r) at the same time checking if the current folder in the loop is the last folder at the current level (tree ..|find "\-")that is, without subfolder below...

for /d /r "%_mp3dir%" %%i in (*)do tree /a /f "%%~fi"|find "\-" >nul

Note: This method is explained in detail in this answer

4. Use a for /f loop additional to list files at the last level of each subfolder, and with the where command redirecting the file extension to the find to search the log file for the occurrence.

(for /f tokens^=* %%# in ('
     2^>nul %__APPDIR__%where.exe "%%~dpni:*"')do type "!_filter!" | find /i "%%~x#" >nul

5. When find command finds an audio extension at the output of the loop, the variable _rm_dir will change the string from yEp to nOp, preventing the current folder from being deleted/removed, and when the opposite happens, where no existing file or none with an audio extension, the variable will keep the value of _rm_dir for yEp.

set "_rm_dir=yEp" && (for /f tokens^=* %%# in ('
     2^>nul %__APPDIR__%where.exe "%%~dpni:*"')do type "!_filter!" | find /i "%%~x#" >nul && set "_rm_dir=nOp"

6. After the previous loop is finished, if will take the action (if necessary) to delete/remove the folder without audio files, when the condition is true for the comparison of variable _rm_dir equal to string yEp:

if /i "!_rm_dir!" == "yEp" echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpni" ^&^& Folder: "%%~dpni" was deleted^!!

7. Test and check the output, if it looks correct, just remove the echo\ and specific ^ from ^&^&:

if /i "!_rm_dir!" == "yEp" echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpni" ^&^& Folder: "%%~dpni" was deleted^!!

8. The echo command is to give you a preview of the actions resulting from the script

if /i "!_rm_dir!" == "yEp" echo\rmdir /q "%%~dpni" ^&^& Folder: "%%~dpni" was deleted^!!

9. [Refer to the Update] To use your command to delete folders with a special character in the name, just invoke cmd with flag /s:

cmd /v/s/c "del /q /f "%%~dpnxi*.*" && rmdir /q "%%~dpnxi" && echo\Deleted:"%%~dpnxi"

rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\540x21" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\540x21" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\54x320" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\54x320" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\12x349" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\12x349" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\543x21" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\543x21" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\123x45" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\123x45" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\12x346" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\12x346" was deleted
rmdir /q "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\empty_" && Folder: "F:\SUPER_USER\Q1553051\Organize\empty_" was deleted

But, please consider paying attention to the comment @somebadhat:
Rename F:\!Organize to F:\Organize

Try to rename your folder by removing !, even if only for running this script.

• Some further reading:

  [√] Set

  [√] Find

  [√] Where

  [√] For /F

  [√] Setlocal

  [√] Endlocal

  [√] DelayedExpansion

  [√] Conditional Execution || && ...

  [√] What is cmd /s for? // ⇉ Update

Answer 2

PowerShell:

Using the -LiteralPath parameter with Remove-Item alllows it to handle special characters in the name.

$Source = 'F:\Organize'
$KeepExts = '.mp3', '.flac', '.wav'

# Directories with files to keep
$Keep = gci $Source -file -recurse |
   Where Extension -in $KeepExts |
      Select -expand DirectoryName -unique

# Directories with no subfolders
$LeafDirs = gci $Source -dir -Recurse |
   Where { (!(gci $_.FullName -dir)) } |
      select -expand FullName

$ToDelete = $LeafDirs | Where { $_ -notIn $Keep }

Remove-Item -LiteralPath $ToDelete -recurse

Answer 3

1. As mentioned in a previous comment, to keep this simple, it will be best to remove the ! exclamation mark from any folder names so the PowerShell Get-ChildItem will work without issue to start.

   Note: Once the cleanup process is entirely complete, you can easily add the exclamation mark back to any folder name(s) as desired if you must.

2. You can then use the below PowerShell script I provided as an example to do what you need it to do for only deleting folders and all folder contents that do not contain the media file extensions you need to keep.

Important Items

• You will want to add the specific file extensions to the $Filter = @("*.aac","*.mp3","*.wav","*.<ext>","*.<ext>","...","...","*.<ext>"); variable at the top of the script so it knows to exclude those directories from the removal process since those contain what you wish to keep folder content wise.

• This process is started first wiping all empty directories with no files or folders within by running Robocopy <dest> <dest> /S /MOVE and then once the files are removed from folders not containing the file extensions you wish to keep, it will run this at the end wiping any further empty directories.

PowerShell

$Src = "F:\Organize"
$Filter = @("*.aac","*.mp3","*.wav","*.flac");

Robocopy $Src $Src /S /MOVE 

$AllDirs = (Get-ChildItem $Src -Directory -Recurse).FullName;

$WipeDirs = @();
$AllDirs | % { Process {
    If(!(Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath "$_" -File -Include $Filter -Recurse).DirectoryName){ 
        [array]$WipeDirs += "$_" 
        }
    }};

$WipeDirs | % { Process {
    Get-ChildItem $_ | Remove-Item -Force;
    }};

$AllDirs+$Src | % {
    $nonFilterFiles = (Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath "$_" -File).FullName; 
    $FilterFiles    = (Get-ChildItem -Path "$_\*" -File -Include $Filter).FullName;

    If($FilterFiles.Count -ge 1){ Return; };
    If($FilterFiles.Count -eq $nonFilterFiles.Count){ Return; };
    If(!$FilterFiles){ $nonFilterFiles | % { Process { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $_ -Force; }}};
    If((!$FilterFiles) -and $nonFilterFiles -ge 1){ $nonFilterFiles | % { Process { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $_ -Force; }}};

    };

Robocopy $Src $Src /S /MOVE 

---

Supporting Resources

• Robocopy
• Get-ChildItem
• If
• Arrays
• ForEach-Object

  Standard Aliases for Foreach-Object: the '%' symbol, ForEach

• About Assignment Operators

  +=: Increases the value of a variable by the specified value, or appends the specified value to the existing value.

• Remove-Item
• Understanding break, continue, return, and exit