Linux: rm command

This Linux tutorial explains how to use the Linux rm command with syntax and arguments.

NAME

rm - remove files or directories

SYNOPSIS

rm [OPTION]... FILE...

DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents the GNU version of rm. rm removes each specified file. By default, it does not remove directories.

If the -I or --interactive=once option is given, and there are more than three files or the -r, -R, or --recursive are given, then rm prompts the user for whether to proceed with the entire operation. If the response is not affirmative, the entire command is aborted.

Otherwise, if a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the -f or --force option is not given, or the -i or --interactive=always option is given, rm prompts the user for whether to remove the file. If the response is not affirmative, the file is skipped.

OPTIONS

Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

-f, --force

ignore nonexistent files, never prompt

-i

prompt before every removal

-I

prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively. Less intrusive than -i, while still giving protection against most mistakes

--interactive[=WHEN]

prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i). Without WHEN, prompt always

--one-file-system

when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is on a file system different from that of the corresponding command line argument

--no-preserve-root

do not treat `/' specially

--preserve-root

do not remove `/' (default)

-r, -R, --recursive

remove directories and their contents recursively

-v, --verbose

explain what is being done

--help

display this help and exit

--version

output version information and exit

By default, rm does not remove directories. Use the --recursive (-r or -R) option to remove each listed directory, too, along with all of its contents.

To remove a file whose name starts with a `-', for example `-foo', use one of these commands:

rm -- -foo

rm ./-foo

Note that if you use rm to remove a file, it might be possible to recover some of its contents, given sufficient expertise and/or time. For greater assurance that the contents are truly unrecoverable, consider using shred.