RM

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 does not begin with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.

OPTIONS

Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

-d, --directory: unlink FILE, even if it is a non-empty directory (super-user only; this works only if your system
: supports `unlink' for nonempty directories)
-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.

AUTHOR

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

REPORTING BUGS

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

COPYRIGHT

RM