Now to Find Directory Files Which Do NOT Contain a Pattern?

[Bill Kochman]

Hello Rich and company,

Well, I suppose I should already know how to do this after all of these years using BBEdit, but I don’t. I googled for the right answer to my question, but apparently, the info Google provides is outdated in some way. I couldn’t find an answer in the grep cheat sheet either.

My question is very simple.

I have a folder containing 741 BBEdit files. The vast majority of the files have the following three hashtags in a vertical row:

#Scriptures\n#BibleStudy\n#BibleVerses\n

However, there are a small number of files which do NOT have those hashtags. So exactly how do I find and list just those files, and NOT all of the other files which DO contain those hashtags?

Using the above line, please show me exactly what I should put in the multi-file search window, and what options need to be enabled.

Thanks so much to whoever responds.

Kind regards,

Bill Kochman

[Rich Siegel]

The "Exclude Matches" option in the Multi-File Search window is provided for this purpose.

R.


--
Rich Siegel Bare Bones Software, Inc.
<sie...@barebones.com> <https://www.barebones.com/>

Someday I'll look back on all this and laugh... until they sedate me.

[Bill Kochman]

Hi Rich,

My gosh! After fiddling around with grep, and asking Google, and then asking Claude as well, it turns out that the simple solution was right there in front of my eyes all along. I have never seen or used that option in all the years that I have used your fine product, Rich. But, I guess I can blame it on my eyes, being as I am nearsighted, with astigmatism in both eyes, and floaters in my right eye to boot.

Thanks for helping out this old geezer!

Kind regards,

Bill Kochman

[Tim A]

That  prompted me to take a look at Search choices on my computer and found the "Search In" box filled with file names from just doing other things in the past with BBEdit. I don't see any way to clear out/delete these.

Is there a way to delete these?

[Bruce Van Allen]

Try the little '-' in a circle on the right by each search location.

— Bruce

_bruce__van_allen__santa_cruz_ca_

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[Tim A]

This is my view - nothing on the right...

[Bill Kochman]

Thanks Bruce and Tim. Rich already gave me the proper answer — exclude matches — after I had first asked my question a few days ago. I am an old fogey with poor vision, so it is no surprise that I missed that option, despite using BBEdit for many years now.

Kind regards,

Bill Kochman

[Bruce Van Allen]

[Sorry Bill - We veered into a related topic]

Oh, the '-' is only by the Recent Folders items.

The upper items on the list are dynamic - based on which files, projects, etc are currently open. They would go away if closed.

HTH

— Bruce

_bruce__van_allen__santa_cruz_ca_


> On Feb 9, 2026, at 7:09 PM, Tim A <timaa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> This is my view - nothing on the right...<BBEdit Search Multi-file Exclude.jpg>

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bbedit/2ea4a2fe-6226-4335-a51e-8374dfd3ee69n%40googlegroups.com.
> <BBEdit Search Multi-file Exclude.jpg>