Build a Python script to mass-delete files by date

Here’s a Python script that allows you to mass-delete files based on their modification date. It recursively scans a given directory and deletes files older than a specified number of days or before a specific date.

python
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import os
import time
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

def delete_files_by_age(directory, days_old=None, before_date=None, dry_run=True):
    """
    Deletes files older than `days_old` days or before a specific `before_date`.
    
    Args:
        directory (str): The root directory to search in.
        days_old (int, optional): Delete files older than this number of days.
        before_date (str, optional): Delete files modified before this date (format: 'YYYY-MM-DD').
        dry_run (bool): If True, only lists files to be deleted. Set to False to actually delete.
    """
    if not os.path.isdir(directory):
        print(f"Directory does not exist: {directory}")
        return

    if not days_old and not before_date:
        print("You must specify either 'days_old' or 'before_date'.")
        return

    if before_date:
        try:
            cutoff = datetime.strptime(before_date, "%Y-%m-%d").timestamp()
        except ValueError:
            print("Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format.")
            return
    else:
        cutoff = time.time() - (days_old * 86400)

    deleted_files = []

    for root, _, files in os.walk(directory):
        for file in files:
            filepath = os.path.join(root, file)
            try:
                mtime = os.path.getmtime(filepath)
                if mtime < cutoff:
                    deleted_files.append(filepath)
                    if not dry_run:
                        os.remove(filepath)
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error handling file {filepath}: {e}")

    action = "Would delete" if dry_run else "Deleted"
    for file in deleted_files:
        print(f"{action}: {file}")

    print(f"nTotal files {'to be deleted' if dry_run else 'deleted'}: {len(deleted_files)}")


# Example usage:
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Customize these values
    target_directory = "/path/to/your/folder"
    delete_files_by_age(
        directory=target_directory,
        days_old=30,                # Files older than 30 days
        # before_date="2023-12-31", # Alternatively, delete before this date
        dry_run=True                # Set to False to actually delete files
    )

Features:

• days_old: Deletes files older than N days.

• before_date: Deletes files before a specific date (overrides days_old).

• dry_run: Preview which files would be deleted before actual deletion.

How to Run:

1. Replace "/path/to/your/folder" with your actual directory.

2. Set dry_run=False after testing to delete files.

Let me know if you need this adapted for file creation dates, only specific file types, or GUI-based execution.