Change file "Kind" to batch delete, not to open in an app

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Level 1

8 points

Change file "Kind" to batch delete, not to open in an app

Hello. I have a list of different files in the same folder, with the extensions .cfa and .pek. They all have the same Kind: "Document", but they don't open in any specific application.

I want to delete only the .pek files, but I cannot organize them by extension - only by Kind. I'm in a network environment, so I cannot "search" for the extension either.

Is there a way to change just the Kind of a certain type of file? Note that I don't care about the application that will open it - because they don't have any. I just want to sort them so I can delete by extension.

I know I can delete one by one, but in a folder with hundreds of files it is a painful task.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on May 20, 2016 1:52 PM

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Answer 1

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

May 20, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Malavasi

Select all the files in question, then CTRL- or RIGHT-click and hold down the Option key and select Show Inspector from the context menu. In the Get Info window that opens uncheck the Hide extension option. Now you should be able to identify the file types.

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Answer 2

Malavasi Author

Level 1

8 points

May 20, 2016 2:08 PM in response to theratter

Thanks for the answer, theratter, but as I said, manually selecting all the files in question is not an option - if they were a just dozen, I wouldn't need to change their Kind to do what I want: delete them. But they are hundreds.

An also, the Hide Extension option is already unchecked for the "Document" kind of file in my computer.

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Answer 3

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

May 20, 2016 2:22 PM in response to Malavasi

An "extension" is not a "Kind." It is part of the filename that tells the computer which application opens that document. See below:

Note the extension appearing after the "." period. The extension, .webloc, says, "Open with the default browser." The extension, .png, says open this file with your picture app, like Preview. However, all four files are Documents of some kind. Here's what they look like in the Finder when I hide the extensions: