How to delete sample clips and junk files from video folders in bulk

Collect video for long enough and every folder gains passengers. Next to the file you actually want there's a 30-second sample.mkv, an .nfo or .txt info file, a .url shortcut, a folder of screenshots, a Thumbs.db, and sometimes a second, smaller copy of the main video. None of it matters once the main file is safe, but across thousands of folders it adds up to clutter, wasted space and confusing search results.

This guide shows how to find and remove that clutter in bulk with free Windows tools, how to avoid deleting things you need, and where SceneSort Pro fits in.

What counts as junk (and what doesn't)

Step 1: See how much junk you have (free)

Open PowerShell in the top folder of your collection and run this. It changes nothing; it just counts files by extension and size:

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File |
  Group-Object Extension |
  Select-Object Name, Count, @{n='MB';e={[math]::Round(($_.Group | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum/1MB)}} |
  Sort-Object MB -Descending | Format-Table -AutoSize

Video extensions (.mkv, .mp4, .avi) should be at the top. Everything else in the list is a candidate for clean-up.

Step 2: Move junk to a holding folder, don't delete it

Bulk deletes are where mistakes happen. Instead, move the junk to one holding folder, check your library still works, then delete the holding folder a week later.

Sample clips (files with "sample" in the name, smaller than 200 MB, plus any folder called Sample):

$hold = 'D:\_Junk'
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $hold | Out-Null
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File -Include *.mkv,*.mp4,*.avi |
  Where-Object { $_.Name -match '(^|[\.\-_ ])sample([\.\-_ ]|$)' -and $_.Length -lt 200MB } |
  ForEach-Object { Move-Item $_.FullName (Join-Path $hold ($_.Directory.Name + ' - ' + $_.Name)) -WhatIf }

Info files and shortcuts:

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File -Include *.txt,*.url,*.lnk,*.html |
  ForEach-Object { Move-Item $_.FullName (Join-Path $hold ($_.Directory.Name + ' - ' + $_.Name)) -WhatIf }

Both commands end in -WhatIf, so the first run only prints what would move. Read the list. When you're happy, run it again without -WhatIf. Add *.nfo to the second list only if no media server uses those files.

Step 3: Remove the empty folders left behind

Once samples and screenshots are gone, you'll have empty Sample and Screens folders. This lists empty folders, deepest first:

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Directory | Sort-Object { $_.FullName.Length } -Descending |
  Where-Object { -not (Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Force) } |
  ForEach-Object { Remove-Item $_.FullName -WhatIf }

As before, remove -WhatIf when the list looks right. If you'd rather click than type, the free tool Czkawka has an Empty Folders tool that does the same with a preview.

Step 4: Catch the copies that aren't named "sample"

Scripts only find junk with a predictable name. The harder cases are extra copies with ordinary names: a short preview called clip.mp4, a phone-sized copy of the main file, or the same video kept in two folders. These need a tool that compares what the videos look like.

That's where SceneSort Pro, our Windows app for organising a big, messy media library, helps:

1. Add your folders (local, external or \\NAS\Videos) and scan.
2. Open Duplicates and choose a visual match mode. SceneSort compares sampled frames, so a short clip taken from a longer video can be grouped with the full version. Treat that as a helpful hint, not a guarantee, and review each group.
3. Each group shows a frame plus duration, resolution and size for every copy, so the short or low-resolution extras are easy to spot. Untick the one you're keeping and delete the rest.
4. Deleted files go to the Recycle Bin, and Undo is available.

Afterwards, Clean Names and Tidy Folders suggest readable names for the files and folders that are left, and you approve each change. The free edition has every feature for your first 500 files.

Common questions

Will deleting .nfo files break Plex?

Plex mostly uses its own agents, but Kodi, Jellyfin and Emby can read metadata from .nfo files. If you use one of those, keep .nfo files that sit next to a video with the same name.

How do I keep subtitles with the video?

Leave .srt and other subtitle files out of every clean-up command. If you later rename the video, rename its subtitle to match (for example Holiday 2024.mp4 and Holiday 2024.en.srt).

Is 200 MB the right size limit for samples?

It's a cautious starting point. Change it to suit your collection, and always run with -WhatIf first.

More guides: start with how to organise a big, messy video collection on Windows; how to move videos out of subfolders into one folder; Video Duplicate Finder vs SceneSort Pro; all video library guides.