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Manual Reference Pages  - RM (1)

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rm - remove files or directories

CONTENTS

Synopsis
Description
Options
Author
Copyright

rm [OPTION]... FILE...

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 does not begin with ‘y’ or ‘Y’, the file is skipped.

Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

-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 the contents of directories recursively
-v, --verbose
	explain what is being done
--help	display this help and exit
--version
	output version information and exit
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.

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

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

Copyright © 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

chattr(1), shred(1)

The full documentation for rm is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and rm programs are properly installed at your site, the command

	info coreutils rm

should give you access to the complete manual.

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