GNU coreutils 8.32
March 2020
coreutils
The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities of the GNU operating system
coreutils-common
coreutils common optional components
coreutils-doc
Documentation for the GNU Core Utilities
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 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[=\,all\/] | |
do not remove ’/’ (default); with ’all’, reject any command line argument on a separate device from its parent | |
-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 |
AUTHOR
Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M. Stallman, and Jim Meyering.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://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.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm>
or available locally via: info \(aq(coreutils) rm invocation\(aq
or available locally via: info \(aq(coreutils) rm invocation\(aq