Delete All Files in a Directory Except One or Few Files with Extensions

To use them, enable the extglob shell option as follows:

# shopt -s extglob

1. To delete all files in a directory except filename, type the command below:

$ rm -v !("filename")

2. To delete all files with the exception of filename1 and filename2:

$ rm -v !("filename1"|"filename2") 

3. The example below shows how to remove all files other than all .zip files interactively:

$ rm -i !(*.zip)

4. Next, you can delete all files in a directory apart from all .zip and .odt files as follows, while displaying what is being done:

$ rm -v !(*.zip|*.odt)

Once you have all the required commands, turn off the extglob shell option like so:

$ shopt -u extglob