Find filenames with certain pattern on Windows command line?

As an IT administrator, you may find it necessary to locate files that have a certain pattern or format on your Windows command line. For example, you may need to locate files that have a certain combination of numbers and letters in the filename, or you may need to search for files that have a certain extension. Fortunately, Windows provides you with the ability to use the command line to search for files with a certain pattern or format.

The command line utility that you will need to use is the “dir” command. The “dir” command is a powerful tool that can be used to search for files with specific patterns. To use the “dir” command, you will need to open a command prompt window. To do this, open the Start menu and type “cmd” into the search bar. Once the command prompt window is open, you will be able to use the “dir” command.

When using the “dir” command, you can use the “/s” switch to search for files in subdirectories. You can also use the “/a” switch to display additional information about the files. For example, you can use the “/a” switch to display the size of the file, the date and time it was created, and the attributes of the file.

To search for files with a certain pattern, you will need to use the “/s” switch along with the “/p” switch. The “/p” switch is used to specify the pattern that you are searching for. For example, if you wanted to search for files with the extension “.jpg”, you would use the following command:

dir /s /p *.jpg

This command will search for all files with the “.jpg” extension in the current directory and all subdirectories. You can also use wildcards in the pattern, such as “*” or “?”. For example, if you wanted to search for files with a combination of numbers and letters in the filename, you could use the following command:

dir /s /p *[0-9]*.txt

This command will search for all files with a combination of numbers and letters in the filename and with the “.txt” extension.

Using the “dir” command is a powerful way to search for files with a specific pattern or format on Windows command line. With the “/s” and “/p” switches, you can easily search for files with certain patterns or formats. This can be very useful for IT administrators who need to quickly locate certain files.