How to search and delete files who contain specific string in name

Question

How can I delete every file on the system which have something in the name?

Answer 1

Please be careful

This following command with the parameter -delete deletes all the files with something in the name in the specified directory and in all subdirectories.

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Open a terminal and go to the right folder:

cd <your_search_starts_here>

test with

find . -type f -name "*something*"

and delete with

find . -type f -name "*something*" -delete

Or a shorter version:

find <your_search_starts_here> -type f -name "*something*" -delete

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For your home folder:

• !!! first run a test

  find ~ -type f -name "*something*"
  

  and than

  find ~ -type f -name "*something*" -delete
  

For the whole filesystem

• !!! first run a test !!!

  sudo find / -type f -name "*something*"
  

  and test again and than delete with

  sudo find / -type f -name "*something*" -delete
  

Or only in the specified directory:

find <your_search_starts_here> -maxdepth 1 -type f -name "*something*" -delete

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And because you have used the tag locate:

The results of a search with locate are based on a database. This may be outdated. Start an update with sudo updatedb. find performs a true search. However, it also takes longer.