man--rm

RM(1)                            User Commands                           RM(1)

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 pro-
       ceed with the entire operation.  If the response is not affirmative, the  entire  com-
       mand 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).

       -f, --force
              ignore nonexistent files, never prompt

       -i     prompt before every removal

       -I     prompt once before removing more than three  files,  or  when  removing  recur-
              sively.   Less  intrusive  than  -i, while still giving protection against most
              mistakes

       --interactive[=WHEN]
              prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I),  or  always  (-i).   Without  WHEN,
              prompt always

       --one-file-system
              when  removing  a  hierarchy  recursively, skip any directory that is on a file
              system different from that of the corresponding command line argument

       --no-preserve-root
              do not treat ‘/’ specially

       --preserve-root
              do not remove ‘/’ (default)

       -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  con-
       tents of that file.  If you want more assurance that the contents are truly unrecover-
       able, consider using shred.

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

REPORTING BUGS
       Report rm bugs to [email protected]
       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
       Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3  or
       later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This  is  free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WAR-
       RANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       unlink(1), unlink(2), 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 invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.

GNU coreutils 8.4                November 2013                           RM(1)
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