How can I delete files that don't match a wildcard?

Question

For example, I can delete all .exe files using the following wildcard:

del *.exe

How can I do the opposite, i.e. delete all files that do not end in .exe?

Answer 1

You can try this.

FOR /R [directory] %%F IN (*.*) DO IF NOT "%%~xF" == ".[extension]" DEL /F /S "%%F"

Or, if you have only one .exe file, it’s even simpler.

for %i in (*.*) do if not %i == FILE.EXE del %i