This article explains the rules for using wildcards when creating exclusions with ENS, MOVE AV Multi-Platform, or VSE.
Using wildcards when creating exclusions
Wildcards (?, *, **) are helpful in creating exclusions, but certain rules apply. See examples below.
- The question mark (?) wildcard is used to represent a single character in the exact position where it is placed in the path or file name.
- The asterisk (*) wildcard is used to represent one or more characters, and does not cross a folder boundary.
- The double asterisk (**) wildcard is used to represent one or more characters, and does cross folder boundaries.
- System Environmental Variables such as %SystemRoot% can be used in exclusions. User Environmental Variables such as %UserProfile% cannot be used, because the on‑access scanner runs under the Windows Local System account.
To show the difference between the * and ** wildcards, C:\Users\Will* would match path names such as C:\Users\William, C:\Users\Willamina, and C:\Users\WillAnderson. It does not match any subfolder of those names. C:\Users\Will** would match the previous folders and all their subfolders.
Wildcard examples
| Example |
Comments |
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**\Temp\test.docx
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Exclude a specific file in a folder named Temp anywhere on the system. |
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**\test.docx
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Exclude a specific file anywhere on the system.
|
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\**\test.docx
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Exclude a specific file in any folder on a specific drive.
|
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Users\**\Documents\Microsoft User Data\
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Exclude any folder under Users and any folder under User Data (select also exclude subfolders).
|
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C:\Documents and Settings\**\Favorites\
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Exclude the Favorites folder for all users.
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C:\**\Favorites\
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Exclude any folder named Favorites on drive C.
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**\Temp\**
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Exclude the Temp folder in any location, on any drive.
In this example the following directories would be excluded:
- C:\temp
- D:\windows\temp
- c:\documents and settings\Administrator\Local Settings\temp
|
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**\Temp\*.tmp
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Exclude any file with a .tmp extension in a folder named Temp anywhere on the system.
|
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**\*.html
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Exclude any file with a .html extension anywhere on the system.
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C:\Windows\Temp*\inifile?.*
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Exclude all files named inifileX, where X is any valid character for a file name, in any folder name beginning with Temp under C:\Windows.
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\**\*.tmp
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Exclude all files with the .tmp extension (*.tmp) in any folder on a specific drive.
In this example, any *.tmp files on the D: drive are excluded:
D:\**\*.tmp
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