GNU Emacs Manual - Flagging Many Files

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## Flagging Many Files at Once

`#`
  Flag all auto-save files (files whose names start and end with ``#'`) for deletion (see section Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters).
`~`
  Flag all backup files (files whose names end with ``~'`) for deletion (see section Backup Files).
`&`
  Flag for deletion all files with certain kinds of names, names that suggest you could easily create the files again.
`. (Period)`
  Flag excess numeric backup files for deletion. The oldest and newest few backup files of any one file are exempt; the middle ones are flagged.
`% d regexp `RET``
  Flag for deletion all files whose names match the regular expression regexp.

The `#`, `~`, `&`, and `.` commands flag many files for deletion, based on their file names. These commands are useful precisely because they do not themselves delete any files; you can remove the deletion flags from any flagged files that you really wish to keep.

`&` (`dired-flag-garbage-files`) flags files whose names match the regular expression specified by the variable `dired-garbage-files-regexp`. By default, this matches certain files produced by TeX, and the ``.orig'` and ``.rej'` files produced by `patch`.

`#` (`dired-flag-auto-save-files`) flags for deletion all files whose names look like auto-save files (see section Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters)---that is, files whose names begin and end with ``#'`. `~` (`dired-flag-backup-files`) flags for deletion all files whose names say they are backup files (see section Backup Files)---that is, whose names end in ``~'`.

`.` (period, `dired-clean-directory`) flags just some of the backup files for deletion: all but the oldest few and newest few backups of any one file. Normally `dired-kept-versions` (not `kept-new-versions`; that applies only when saving) specifies the number of newest versions of each file to keep, and `kept-old-versions` specifies the number of oldest versions to keep.

Period with a positive numeric argument, as in `C-u 3 .`, specifies the number of newest versions to keep, overriding `dired-kept-versions`. A negative numeric argument overrides `kept-old-versions`, using minus the value of the argument to specify the number of oldest versions of each file to keep.

The `% d` command flags all files whose names match a specified regular expression (`dired-flag-files-regexp`). Only the non-directory part of the file name is used in matching. You can use ``^'` and ``$'` to anchor matches. You can exclude subdirectories by hiding them (see section Hiding Subdirectories).

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