rmdir

Additional Notes

rmdir removes directories only when they are empty. This makes it safer than rm -r for cleanup when you do not want to accidentally delete files.

If a directory contains files or subdirectories, rmdir refuses to remove it.

Syntax

rmdir [options] directory...

Parameters

• options: Flags that change how rmdir behaves.
• path: File or directory path to inspect or change.
• arguments: Names, patterns, or values used by the command.

Common Options

• -p, --parents: Remove a directory and then its empty parents.
• -v, --verbose: Print each removed directory.
• --ignore-fail-on-non-empty: Ignore failures caused by non-empty directories.

Examples

rmdir old-empty-dir

Remove an empty directory.

rmdir -v cache

Remove an empty directory and print the action.

rmdir -p project/old/empty

Remove empty, then remove parent directories if they become empty.

find . -type d -empty -print

Preview empty directories before removing them.

Practical Notes

• Use rmdir when you only want to remove empty directories.
• Use rm -r only when you intentionally want recursive deletion.
• If rmdir fails, check contents with ls -la directory.
• Hidden files also make a directory non-empty.