| -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 | 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); 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 |
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.
Any attempt to remove a file whose last file name component is '.' or '..' is rejected with a diagnostic.
To remove a file whose name starts with a '-', for example '-foo', use one of these commands:
rm ---foo
rm ./-foo
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 unrecoverable, consider using shred(1).
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/>
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'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 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.