Skip to main content
L
Lefty45
Participant
February 14, 2020
Answered

Finding bulk files by partial filename

  • February 14, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 397 views

Recently updated to Elements 2020  current revision.  Somehow, some of my backup files found their way into the catalog.  My question is - Is there a way to find these files which have the format

Bxxxxxxx.*.  I can easily identify them with the information tag in the organizer but only by one at a time.  I would like to find all those files so I can delete them from the catalog.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Greg_S.

Did you try the Find>By File Name option?  If you enter B0 in the search text string, you should find all of the backup files.  However, it will also find all files in which that text appears anywhere in the name.  If you search for B01 followed by B02 etc.,  you should find any remaining backup files in groups.  You may also find non-backup files, particularly generated by smartphones.

4 replies

L
Lefty45Author
Participant
February 18, 2020

That worked.  Thanks.

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Greg_S.Community ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 14, 2020

Did you try the Find>By File Name option?  If you enter B0 in the search text string, you should find all of the backup files.  However, it will also find all files in which that text appears anywhere in the name.  If you search for B01 followed by B02 etc.,  you should find any remaining backup files in groups.  You may also find non-backup files, particularly generated by smartphones.

    Greg_S.
    Community Expert
    Greg_S.Community Expert
    Community Expert
    February 14, 2020

     . . .  Michel made a slight typo.  The search tool is in the Find menu, not the Help menu.    You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+K.

    MichelBParis
    MichelBParis
    Legend
    February 14, 2020

    You can find any file containing a given substring from the menu Help >> Find >> By file name. 

    You specify the substring 'Find items with the file name containing '.

    You can then delete them from catalog (not from disk).

     

    Since those files are coming from a backup folder and they have been registered ("imported") by error in the catalog, It would be better to check the location of that backup folder from the file properties and to have a look at the folders panel in tree view. There is no reason to find files from backup folders in your catalog, so anything in the found backup folder should be deleted from the current catalog.

    A word of caution:  deleting thousands of files in one batch may be very long and even abort after several hours. If you decide to delete from catalog, do so with smaller batches. That depends on your available RAM.

     

    Edit:

    Thanks to Greg for correcting the typo in the  "Find" menu.

     

     

      L
      Lefty45Author
      Participant
      February 14, 2020

      Thanks for the prompt reply.  I deleted the backup catalogs from the folder tree (left side) of organizer.  That indeed took care of most of my issues.  I have checked and there are no more backup folders in the catalog.  There are still some of the files with a backup "B" prefix.  Anyway to identify them in bulk using the find menu? Easy to fine one at a time but not more than one at a time.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices