rm

Additional Notes

rm removes files. With recursive options, it can remove directories and everything inside them.

This command is powerful and dangerous because normal rm deletion does not move files to a desktop trash folder. In many cases, removed files are difficult or impossible to recover.

Syntax

rm [options] file...

Parameters

• file: File, link, or directory path to remove.

Common Options

• -i, --interactive: Ask before every removal.
• -I: Ask once before removing many files or recursive targets.
• -f, --force: Ignore missing files and never prompt.
• -r, -R, --recursive: Remove directories and their contents.
• -d, --dir: Remove empty directories.
• -v, --verbose: Show what is removed.

Examples

rm old.txt

Remove one file.

rm -i important.txt

Ask before removing.

rm -v *.tmp

Remove temporary files and show each deletion.

rm -r old-project

Remove a directory and everything inside it.

rm -I *.log

Ask once before removing many matching files.

find . -name "*.tmp" -print
find . -name "*.tmp" -delete

Safer workflow: preview with find, then delete.

Practical Notes

• Always check your current directory with pwd before broad deletion.
• Use ls or find ... -print before deleting wildcard matches.
• Be very careful with rm -rf; it removes recursively and ignores prompts.
• Quote paths that contain spaces.
• To remove empty directories only, use rmdir or rm -d.
• For safer desktop-style deletion, use a trash tool if installed.