![]() ![]() ![]() Ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt Here are all important options for GNU rm command (read man page here) ![]() You learned how to delete files on Linux and Unix-like operating systems. Do check wildcards using the ls command before running the rm command. Be careful with wildcards, as you might end up deleting all or unwanted files. Please note that these wildcards are used by nearly any Linux or Unix-like system commands and are not limited to the rm. For instance, to remove all files pattern such as aa, ab, ac, and so on, you can type: On the other hand, the question mark ( ? ) represents only one unknown character. The asterisk ( * ) represents any number of unknown characters and is very powerful. It will remove all files starting with a character such as abc.txt aaa.doc amazing_pic.jpg, and so on: Thus, we can use wildcard matching for removing files in bulk. Soon afterward, this became a shell built-in. Long ago, in UNIX V6, there was a program /etc/glob that would expand wildcard patterns. For instance, the asterisk ( * ) and the question mark ( ? ) are examples of a wildcard. Using wildcards (globbing) with rm commandĪ wildcard is nothing but a symbol to match an unknown character or set of characters. The rm -rf / variant of the command, if run by an administrator, would cause the contents of every writable mounted filesystem on the computer to be deleted. The rm -rf (variously, rm -rf /, rm -rf *, and others) is frequently used in jokes and anecdotes about Unix disasters. WARNING! These examples will delete all files on your computer if executed. Never run rm -rf / as an administrator or normal UNIX / Linux user The two - dashes tells rm command the end of the options and rest of the part is nothing but a file or directory name begins with a dash. $ xargs rm < file.txt How do I delete a file named -foo.txt or a directory named -bar? Now delete all file listed in the file named file.txt, enter: The rm command is often used in conjunction with xargs to supply a list of files to delete. $ rmdir docs How to read a list of all files to delete from a text file To remove empty directory use rmdir command and not the rm command: Removed 'bios-updates.doc' How to delete empty directories $ rm -I -r -f ~/olddata/ Force rm command to explain what is being done with file $ rm -I foo.conf bar.conf resume.doc cakeday.png Pass the -I option to prompt only once before removing more than three files but still providing protection against many mistakes at the cli: To request confirmation before attempting to remove each file pass the -i option to the rm command: $ rm -rf mydir Linux delete a file and prompt before every removal Remove all files and sub-directories from a directory (say deltree like command from MS-DOS world), enter: Say you have a file named abc.txt and you want to remove it:ĭelete three files named foo.mp4, bar.doc, and demo.txt, run: Always keep verified backups of all critical files and data. Warning: Be careful with filenames as Unix and Linux, by default, won’t prompt for confirmation before deleting files. When rm command used just with the file names, rm deletes all given files without confirmation by the user. -r: Remove the contents of directories recursively.The syntax is as follows to delete the specified files and directories: ![]() Usually, on most filesystems, deleting a file requires write permission on the parent directory (and execute permission, in order to enter the directory in the first place). Rm (short for remove) is a Unix / Linux command which is used to delete files from a filesystem. ![]()
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