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RM

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: February 2026
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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 the -I or --interactive=once option is given, and there are more than three files or the -r, -R, or --recursive are given, then rm prompts the user for whether to proceed with the entire operation. If the response is not affirmative, the entire command is aborted. Otherwise, if a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and the -f or --force option is not given, or the -i or --interactive=always option is 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).

X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-f'-f, --forceX'tty: link': ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-i'-iX'tty: link': prompt before every removal
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-I'-IX'tty: link': prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively; less intrusive than -i, while still giving protection against most mistakes
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-interactive'--interactive[=WHEN]X'tty: link': prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i); without WHEN, prompt always
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-on-fil-system'--one-file-systemX'tty: link': when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is on a file system different from that of the corresponding command line argument
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-n-preserv-root'--no-preserve-rootX'tty: link': do not treat '/' specially
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-preserv-root'--preserve-root[=all]X'tty: link': do not remove '/' (default); with 'all', reject any command line argument on a separate device from its parent
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-r'-r, -R, --recursiveX'tty: link': remove directories and their contents recursively
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-d'-d, --dirX'tty: link': remove empty directories
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/coreutils.html#r-v'-v, --verboseX'tty: link': explain what is being done
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm#r-help'--helpX'tty: link': display this help and exit
X'tty: link https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm#r-version'--versionX'tty: link': 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.

Any attempt to remove a file whose last file name component is '.' or '..' is rejected with a diagnostic.

To remove a file whose name starts with a '-', for example '-foo', use one of these commands:

: rm -- -foo
: rm ./-foo

If you use rm to remove a file, it might be possible to recover some of its contents, given sufficient expertise and/or time. For greater assurance that the contents are unrecoverable, consider using shred(1).

AUTHOR

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

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org

Report Gentoo bugs to: https://bugs.gentoo.org/
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
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