The rm command removes files and directories. You must use the -R option to recursively remove files, subdirectories, and the parent directory itself. To remove a file, you must have write permission in the directory that contains the file, but you need not have permission on the file itself. If you do not have write permissions on the file, you will be prompted (y or n) to override. rm is often aliased to rm -i, especially for the root user, to protect against inadvertently deleting files.
Syntax
The syntax of the rm command is:
# rm [options] {file/directory names}
For example, to remove the ~/myfiles directory and its contents:
# rm -R ~/myfiles
The rm (remove) command can delete files:
# rm file1 file2 file3
or recursively delete directories:
$ rm -r dir1 dir2
If you encounter the below error while running the rm command:
rm: command not found
you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| OS X | brew install coreutils |
| Debian | apt-get install coreutils |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install coreutils |
| Alpine | apk add coreutils |
| Arch Linux | pacman -S coreutils |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install coreutils |
| CentOS | yum install coreutils |
| Fedora | dnf install coreutils |
| Raspbian | apt-get install coreutils |
rm Command Examples
1. To remove a file:
# rm file
2. To forcefully remove a file:
# rm -f file
3. To prompt before removing any file:
# rm -i file
4. To prompt before removing any file, if more than three files:
# rm -I file*
5. To prmpt as specified:
# rm --interactive=WHEN file*
6. To skip any directory that is on a file system different from specified:
# rm --one-file-system
7. To do not treat “/” specially:
# rm --no-preserve-root
8. To do not remove “/”:
# rm --preserve-root
9. To remove directories and their contents recursively:
# rm -r # rm -R # rm --recursive
10. To run in verbose mode:
# rm -v # rm --version
11. To get the help:
# rm --help
12. To get the version:
# rm --version