PowerShell/docs/list-unused-files.md

list-unused-files.ps1

This PowerShell script scans a directory tree and lists unused files (no read/write access since a number of days).

Parameters

PS> ./list-unused-files.ps1 [[-path] <String>] [[-days] <Int32>] [<CommonParameters>]

-path <String>
    Specifies the path to the directory tree (current working dir by default)
    
    Required?                    false
    Position?                    1
    Default value                "$PWD"
    Accept pipeline input?       false
    Accept wildcard characters?  false

-days <Int32>
    Specifies the number of days (100 by default)
    
    Required?                    false
    Position?                    2
    Default value                100
    Accept pipeline input?       false
    Accept wildcard characters?  false

[<CommonParameters>]
    This script supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, 
    WarningVariable, OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Example

PS> ./list-unused-files.ps1 C:\Windows
...
✔️ Found 43729 unused files (no access for 100 days) within 📂C:\Windows in 113 sec

Notes

Author: Markus Fleschutz | License: CC0

Related Links

https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell

Script Content

<#
.SYNOPSIS
	Lists unused files in a directory tree
.DESCRIPTION
	This PowerShell script scans a directory tree and lists unused files (no read/write access since a number of days).
.PARAMETER path
	Specifies the path to the directory tree (current working dir by default)
.PARAMETER days
	Specifies the number of days (100 by default)
.EXAMPLE
	PS> ./list-unused-files.ps1 C:\Windows
	...
	✔️ Found 43729 unused files (no access for 100 days) within 📂C:\Windows in 113 sec
.LINK
	https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell
.NOTES
	Author: Markus Fleschutz | License: CC0
#>

param([string]$path = "$PWD", [int]$days = 100)

try {
	$stopWatch = [system.diagnostics.stopwatch]::startNew()

	$path = Resolve-Path "$path"
	Write-Progress "Scanning $path for unused files..."

	$cutOffDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$Days)
 	[int]$count = 0
	Get-ChildItem -path $path -recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastAccessTime -le $cutOffDate} | Foreach-Object {
		"📄$($_.FullName)"
                $count++
        }

	Write-Progress -completed " "
        [int]$elapsed = $stopWatch.Elapsed.TotalSeconds
        "✔️ Found $count unused files (no access for $days days) within 📂$path in $elapsed sec"
	exit 0 # success
} catch {
	"⚠️ Error in line $($_.InvocationInfo.ScriptLineNumber): $($Error[0])"
	exit 1
}

(generated by convert-ps2md.ps1 using the comment-based help of list-unused-files.ps1 as of 12/16/2023 10:12:23)