How to Delete Files in Linux by Date or Pattern (With Safe Examples)

Managing files in Linux becomes especially important when you’re dealing with logs, backups, or large numbers of auto-generated files. Instead of deleting files manually, Linux offers powerful tools to remove files based on name patterns, file age, or count — safely and efficiently.

This beginner-friendly guide covers:

• Deleting files with matching names
• Removing old files based on date
• Keeping only the latest X files
• Safety tips to avoid accidental deletion

---

🧹 Why Use Conditional Deletion?

If you work with scheduled backups or logs, you may end up with hundreds of files like:

backup-2023-09-01.tar.gz  
backup-2023-09-02.tar.gz  
...
backup-2025-10-03.tar.gz

Instead of removing each manually, let Linux handle it smartly.

---

🔸 Delete Files by Pattern (Using rm with Wildcards)

You can remove all files that match a certain name or pattern using *:

rm backup-2023*

This command deletes all files starting with backup-2023 in the current directory.

✅ Useful for deleting logs or backups by year/month
🛑 Caution: Wildcards are powerful. Double-check before hitting Enter.

---

🔸 Delete Files Older Than X Days (Using find)

The find command is ideal for deleting old files, especially based on last modification time.

📌 Syntax:

find [path] -type f -name "[pattern]" -mtime +[days] -exec rm {} \;

✅ Example: Delete all .log files older than 30 days:

find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -exec rm {} \;

Flag	Meaning
-type f	Search for files only
-name	Match files with a pattern
-mtime +30	Files modified more than 30 days ago
-exec rm {} \;	Delete each matched file

🔍 Just want to preview files before deleting?

Use:

find . -type f -name "*.log" -mtime +30

---

🔸 Keep the Most Recent Files (Using ls + xargs)

Let’s say you want to keep only the latest 5 backups and delete the rest.

ls -t backup-*.tar.gz | tail -n +6 | xargs rm

Part	What It Does
ls -t	Sort files by modified time (newest first)
tail -n +6	Skip first 5 files, show the rest
xargs rm	Delete those files

✅ Safe way to limit file retention by count
💡 Adjust +6 to +11 if you want to keep 10 files, etc.

---

🔸 Practice: Try It Yourself

Create test files and try deletion without harming real data.

cd ~
mkdir test-cleanup
cd test-cleanup

# Create sample files with simulated dates
touch -d "2023-01-01" old1.log
touch -d "2023-06-01" old2.log
touch -d "2025-10-01" new1.log
touch -d "2025-10-03" new2.log

Now delete files older than 300 days:

find . -type f -name "*.log" -mtime +300 -exec rm {} \;

---

🛡️ Safety Tips Before Deleting Files in Bulk

Tip	Why It Matters
Always test with ls or find first	See what will be deleted
Use -i flag for confirmation	e.g. rm -i * asks before each file
Avoid rm -rf unless 100% sure	One wrong path can delete everything!
Keep backups	Especially for scripts or production systems

---

📌 Summary Table: Deleting Files in Linux

Task	Command Example
Delete files matching a pattern	rm backup-2023*
Delete .log files older than 30 days	find . -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -exec rm {} \;
Preview files to be deleted	find . -name "*.log" -mtime +30
Keep latest 5 files, delete the rest	`ls -t backup-*
Delete files interactively	rm -i *.txt

---

✅ Conclusion

Conditional deletion is a must-know skill for anyone working on Linux. It helps you:

• Save disk space
• Automate cleanup
• Manage large volumes of files

Start with listing files safely using find, then work up to automating file cleanup with scripts.