rm - Unix, Linux Command

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 a file is unwritable, the standard input is a tty, and the -f or --force option is not 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).

Tag	Description
-f, --force
	ignore nonexistent files, never prompt
-i, --interactive
	prompt before any removal
--no-preserve-root do not treat ‘/’ specially (the default)
--preserve-root
	fail to operate recursively on ‘/’
-r, -R, --recursive
	remove directories and their contents recursively
-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.
To remove a file whose name starts with a ‘-’, for example ‘-foo’, use one of these commands:
	rm -- -foo
	rm ./-foo

Note that if you use rm to remove a file, it is usually possible to recover the contents of that file. If you want more assurance that the contents are truly unrecoverable, consider using shred.

AUTHOR

Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard Stallman, and Jim Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software. You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.