rm − remove files or directories
rm [OPTION]... FILE...
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.
Remove (unlink)
the FILE(s).
−f, −−force
ignore nonexistent files and arguments, 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
−d, −−dir
remove empty directories
−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.
GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M. Stallman, and Jim Meyering.
Copyright
© 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+:
GNU GPL version 3 or later
<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and
redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by law.
unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)
The full documentation for rm is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and rm programs are properly installed at your site, the command
info coreutils 'rm invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.