linux cmd delete files in subdirectories older than x days

Be careful with special file names (spaces, quotes) when piping to rm.

There is a safe alternative - the -delete option:

find /path/to/directory/ -mindepth 1 -mtime +5 -delete
That's it, no separate rm call and you don't need to worry about file names.

Replace -delete with -depth -print to test this command before you run it (-delete implies -depth).

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edited May 25 '15 at 18:10

Stephen Kitt
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answered May 25 '15 at 16:44

basic6
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Also use -type f to delete files only (and keep sub directories) – Oleg Mar 4 '16 at 8:44
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Alternatively, if you want to do the same for all files NEWER than five days: find /path/to/directory/ -mindepth 1 -mtime -5 -delete – zmonteca Apr 19 '16 at 17:29