Question

Is it possible to define an array of filenames (all files in different folders) and then in a loop delete them all, or do something else?

Actually I need to create a few symbolic links using mklink to one file, putting those links in a different folders, replacing the old links if there was any.

Answer 1

Deleting an array of filenames is simple:

Remove-Item foo.txt,c:\temp\bar.txt,baz\baz.txt

Or via a variable:

$files = 'foo.txt','c:\temp\bar.txt','baz\baz.txt'
Remove-Item $files

And then based on all files in different folders:

$folders = 'C:\temp','C:\users\joe\foo'
Get-ChildItem $folders -r | Where {!$_.PSIsContainer} | Remove-Item -WhatIf

Remove the -WhatIf to do the actual removal.

If you want to delete a file with a specific name you could use the -Filter parameter on Get-ChildItem. This would be the best performing approach:

$folders = 'C:\temp','C:\users\joe\foo'
Get-ChildItem $folders -r -filter foo.bak | Remove-Item -WhatIf

If the name requires more sophisticated matching then you can use a regex in a Where scriptblock e.g.:

$folders = 'C:\temp','C:\users\joe\foo'
Get-ChildItem $folders -r | Where {$_.Name -match 'f\d+.bak$'} | 
                            Remove-Item -WhatIf