rm

RM(1)                            User Commands                           RM(1)

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=al-
       ways  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  re-
              moving  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

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

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/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C) 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.

SEE ALSO
       unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) rm invocation'

GNU coreutils 8.32               February 2024                           RM(1)