How to delete a file in Linux? How to delete a directory in Linux? Let’s see how to do both of these tasks with one magical command called rm. Show
How to delete files in LinuxLet me show you various cases of removing files. 1. Delete a single fileIf you want to remove a single file, simply use the rm command with the file name. You may need to add the path if the file is not in your current directory.
If the file is write protected i.e. you don’t have write permission to the file, you’ll be asked to confirm the deletion of the write-protected file.
You can type yes or y and press enter key to confirm the deletion. Read this article to know more about Linux file permissions. 2. Force delete a fileIf you want to remove files without any prompts (like the one you saw above), you can use the force removal option -f.
3. Remove multiple filesTo remove multiple files at once, you can provide all the filenames.
You can also use wildcard (*) and regex instead of providing all the files individually to the rm command. For example, if you want to remove all the files ending in .hpp in the current directory, you can use rm command in the following way:
4. Remove files interactivelyOf course, removing all the matching files at once could be a risky business. This is why rm command has the interactive mode. You can use the interactive mode with the option -i.
It will ask for confirmation for each of the file. You can enter y to delete the file and n for skipping the deletion.
You just learned to delete files in the terminal. Let’s see how to remove directories in Linux. DigitalOcean – The developer cloud Helping millions of developers easily build, test, manage, and scale applications of any size – faster than ever before. Explore our productsGet started on DigitalOcean with a $100, 60-day credit for new users.How to remove directories in LinuxThere is a command called rmdir which is short for remove directory. However, this rmdir command can only be used for deleting empty directories. If you try to delete a non-empty directory with rmdir, you’ll see an error message:
There is no rmdir force. You cannot force rmdir to delete non-empty directory. This is why I am going to use the same rm command to delete folders as well. Remembering the rm command is a lot more useful than rmdir which in my opinion is not worth the trouble. 1. Remove an empty directoryTo remove an empty directory, you can use the -d option. This is equivalent to the rmdir command and helps you ensure that the directory is empty before deleting it.
2. Remove directory with contentTo remove directory with contents, you can use the recursive option with rm command.
This will delete all the contents of the directory including its sub-directories. If there are write-protected files and directories, you’ll be asked to confirm the deletion. 3. Force remove a directory and its contentIf you want to avoid the confirmation prompt, you can force delete.
4. Remove multiple directoriesYou can also delete multiple directories at once with rm command.
Awesome! So now you know how to remove directory in Linux terminal. SummaryHere’s a summary of the rm command and its usage for a quick reference.
I hope you like this tutorial and learned to delete files and remove directories in Linux command line. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.
Creator of Linux Handbook and It's FOSS. An ardent Linux user & open source promoter. Huge fan of classic detective mysteries from Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes to Columbo & Ellery Queen. Which command is used for removing deleting files?Use the rm command to remove files you no longer need. The rm command removes the entries for a specified file, group of files, or certain select files from a list within a directory. User confirmation, read permission, and write permission are not required before a file is removed when you use the rm command.
What is the command to delete a file in Linux?Deleting files (rm command). To delete the file named myfile, type the following: rm myfile.. To delete all the files in the mydir directory, one by one, type the following: rm -i mydir/* After each file name displays, type y and press Enter to delete the file. Or to keep the file, just press Enter.. How can I use rm without confirmation?Remove a file without being prompted
While you can simply unalias the rm alias, a simpler and generally used method to remove files without being prompted is to add the force -f flag to the rm command. It is advisable that you only add the force -f flag if you really know what you are removing.
What is the Linux command used to remove or delete files A and B?The rm command deletes files in a Linux. The command unlinks the data from the file name, allowing the user to overwrite on that particular storage space. Wildcards can be used with this command. This will erase any file that has the word sample in the name.
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