Loop through files (Recurse subfolders)
Syntax
FOR /R [[drive:]path] %%parameter IN (set) DO command
Key
drive:path : The folder tree where the files are located.
set : A set of one or more files enclosed in parenthesis (file1.*, another?.log).
Wildcards must be used.
If (set) is a period character (.) then FOR will loop through every folder.
command : The command to carry out, including any parameters.
This can be a single command, or if you enclose it
in (parenthesis), several commands, one per line.
%%parameter : A replaceable parameter:
in a batch file use %%G (on the command line %G)
This command walks down the folder tree starting at [drive:]path,
and executes the DO statement against each matching file.
If the [drive:]path are not specified they will default to the current drive:path.
Unlike some other variants of the FOR command you must include a wildcard (either * or ?) in the 'set' to get consistent results returned. In many cases you can work around this by adding a single character wildcard e.g. if you are looping through multiple folders to find the exact filename myfile.txt you could instead specify myfile.t?t
FOR does not, by itself, set or clear the Errorlevel.
FOR is an internal command.
Examples:
List every .bak file in every subfolder starting at C:\temp\
For /R C:\temp\ %%G IN (*.bak) do Echo "%%G"
A batch file to rename all .LOG files to .TXT in the 'demo' folder and all sub-folders:
For /R C:\demo\ %%G in (*.LOG) do Echo REN "%%G" "%%~nG.TXT"
Alternatively the same thing using the current directory:
CD C:\demo\
For /R %%G in (*.LOG) do Echo REN "%%G" "%%~nG.TXT"
(Remove the Echo from these commands to run them for real.)
Change directory to each subfolder under C:\Work in turn:
FOR /R "C:\Work\" %%G in (.) DO (
Pushd %%G
Echo now in %%G
Popd
)
Echo "back home"
“Just think how happy you would be if you lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again” ~ Frances Rodman
Related:
FOR - Loop commands.
FOR - Loop through a set of files in one folder.
FOR /D - Loop through several folders.
FOR /L - Loop through a range of numbers.
FOR /F - Loop through items in a text file.
FOR /F - Loop through the output of a command.
FORFILES - Batch process multiple files.
IF - Conditionally perform a command.
Powershell: ForEach-Object - Loop for each object in the pipeline.
Equivalent bash command (Linux): for - Expand words, and execute commands.