Linux rm command man page

By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: June 4, 2016

This page shows the contents of the Linux rm command man page. The rm command ("remove") is used for deleting files and directories on a Unix or Linux system.

This rm command output was created on a CentOS Linux system. You can see this same rm command man page output by entering this command on your own Linux system:

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 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).

       -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 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  Mey-
       ering.

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.

SEE ALSO
       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 com-
       mand

	      info rm

       should give you access to the complete manual.

rm 5.97				 January 2009				 RM(1)

This rm command man page is included here so we can reference it directly from other rm command tutorials.

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Linux rm command man page

Linux rm command man page

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