Delete all file linux command

Linux Delete All Files In Directory Using Command Line

Linux Delete All Files In Directory

The procedure to remove all files from a directory:

1. Open the terminal application
2. To delete everything in a directory run: rm /path/to/dir/*
3. To remove all sub-directories and files: rm -r /path/to/dir/*

Let us see some examples of rm command to delete all files in a directory when using Linux operating systems.

How to remove all the files in a directory?

Suppose you have a directory called /home/vivek/data/. To list files type the ls command:
$ ls

Understanding rm command option that deleted all files in a directory

• -r : Remove directories and their contents recursively.
• -f : Force option. In other words, ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt. Dangerous option. Be careful.
• -v : Verbose option. Show what rm is doing on screen.

Deleting hidden vs non-hidden files

In Linux, any file or directory that starts with a dot character called a dot file. It is to be treated as hidden file. To see hidden files pass the -a to the ls command:
ls
ls -a
ls -la
To remove all files except hidden files in a directory use:
rm /path/to/dir/*
rm -rf /path/to/dir/*
rm *
In this example, delete all files including hidden files, run:
rm -rf /path/to/dir1/<*,.*>
rm -rfv /path/to/dir1/

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Bash remove all files from a directory including hidden files using the dotglob option

If the dotglob option set, bash includes filenames beginning with a ‘.’ in the results of pathname expansion. In other words, turn on this option to delete hidden files:

See GNU/bash man page for the shopt command online here:
man bash
help shopt

Linux Remove All Files In Directory

As I said earlier one can use the unlink command too. The syntax is:
unlink filename
For example, delete file named foo.txt in the current working directory, enter:
unlink foo.txt
It can only delete a single file at a time. You can not pass multiple files or use wildcards such as *. Therefore, I strongly recommend you use the rm command as discussed above.

Conclusion

In this quick tutorial, you learned how to remove or delete all the files in a directory using the rm command. Linux offers a few more options to find and delete files. Please see the following tutorials:

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Как удалить файл через терминал Linux

Эта небольшая заметка ориентирована на совсем начинающих. Сегодня мы рассмотрим как удалить файл linux через терминал. Для более опытных пользователей это элементарная задача, но новичкам надо с чего-то начинать. Знать как работать с файлами в консоли очень важно.

К тому же удаление из консоли дает много преимуществ и большую гибкость. Например, с помощью специальной команды вы можете полностью стереть файл с жесткого диска, так что его уже ни за что невозможно будет восстановить или одной командой с помощью специальных символов, условий или регулярных выражений удалить сотни ненужных файлов в одном каталоге или подкаталогох соответствующих определенному критерию.

В Linux для удаления файлов предусмотрена стандартная утилита rm. Как и все остальные, стандартные утилиты в имени rm тоже заложена определенная идея. Это сокращение от английского слова Remove.

Удаление файлов в Linux

Чтобы удалить файл linux достаточно передать в параметрах команде адрес файла в файловой системе:

Чтобы удалить все файлы, начинающиеся на слово file можно использовать специальный символ *, означает любой символ в любом количестве:

Эта команда удаления файла в linux должна использоваться очень осторожно, чтобы не удалить ничего лишнего. В утилите есть опция -i, которая заставляет программу спрашивать пользователя перед тем, как удалить файл linux:

rm: удалить пустой обычный файл «/home/user/file»?

Если файлов очень много, вы уверены в правильности команды и отвечать каждый раз y неудобно, есть противоположная опция — f. Будут удалены все файлы без вопросов:

rm -f /home/user/file*

Для удаления директорий, вместе с файлами и поддиректориями используется опция -R, например:

rm -Rf /home/user/dir

Будет удалено все что находиться в папке dir, и эта папка. Только будьте бдительны, чтобы не получился знаменитый патч Бармина:

Не стоит выполнять эту команду в своей системе, как видите, она удаляет все файлы в файловой системе Linux.

Удаление файла в linux также возможно с помощью утилиты find. Общий синтаксис find:

find папка критерий действие

Например, мы хотим удалить файл linux по имени:

find . -type f -name «file» -exec rm -f <> \;

Будут найдены все файлы с именем file в текущей папке и для них вызвана команда rm -f. Можно не вызывать стороннюю утилиту, а использовать действие delete:

find . -type f -name «file» -delete

Удалить все файлы в текущей директории, соответствующие определенному регулярному выражению:

find . -regex ‘\./[a-f0-9\-]\.bak’ — delete

Или удалить файлы старше определенного строка, может быть полезно для удаления старых логов:

find /path/to/files* -mtime +5 -exec rm <> \;

Будет выполнено удаление файлов через терминал все файлы в папке старше 5-ти дней.

Чтобы полностью стереть файл, без возможности восстановления используйте команду shred. Во время удаления файлов с помощью утилиты rm удаляется только ссылка на файл, само же содержимой файла по-прежнему находиться на диске, пока система не перезапишет его новыми данными, а пока этого не случится файл можно легко восстановить. Принцип действия утилиты такой — после удаления файла, его место на диске несколько раз перезаписывается.

Опцией -n — можно указать количество перезаписей диска, по умолчанию используется 3. А если указать опцию -z программа при последней перезаписи запишет все нулями чтобы скрыть, уничтожение файла.

Выводы

Вот и все. Теперь вы знаете как удалить файл в Ubuntu, как видите, делать это не так уж сложно. Если у вас остались вопросы, пишите в комментариях!

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How To: Linux / UNIX delete a file using rm command

H ow do I delete a file under a Linux / UNIX / *BSD / AIX / HP-UX operating system using command line options?

To remove or delete a file or directory in Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, macOS, or Unix-like operating systems, use the rm command or unlink command. This page explains how to delete a given file on a Linux or Unix like system using the command line option.

Tutorial details
Difficulty level	Easy
Root privileges	No
Requirements	rm and unlink command on Linux or Unix
Est. reading time	4 minutes

Syntax: rm command to remove a file

rm (short for remove) is a Unix / Linux command which is used to delete files from a filesystem. Usually, on most filesystems, deleting a file requires write permission on the parent directory (and execute permission, in order to enter the directory in the first place). The syntax is as follows to delete the specified files and directories:

• -f : Forcefully remove file
• -r : Remove the contents of directories recursively

When rm command used just with the file names, rm deletes all given files without confirmation by the user.

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Warning : Be careful with filenames as Unix and Linux, by default, won’t prompt for confirmation before deleting files. Always keep verified backups of all critical files and data.

Unix Remove or delete a file example

Say you have a file named abc.txt and you want to remove it:
$ rm abc.txt

Linux delete multiple files

Delete three files named foo.mp4, bar.doc, and demo.txt, run:

Linux recursively delete all files

Remove all files and sub-directories from a directory (say deltree like command from MS-DOS world), enter:
$ rm -rf mydir

Linux delete a file and prompt before every removal

To request confirmation before attempting to remove each file pass the -i option to the rm command:
$ rm -i filename
Sample outputs:

Gif 01: rm command demo

Force rm command to explain what is being done with file

Pass the -v option as follows:
$ rm -v moiz.list.txt bios-updates.doc
removed ‘moiz.list.txt’
removed ‘bios-updates.doc’

How to delete empty directories

To remove empty directory use rmdir command and not the rm command:
$ rmdir mydirectory
$ rmdir dirNameHere
$ rmdir docs

How to read a list of all files to delete from a text file

The rm command is often used in conjunction with xargs to supply a list of files to delete. Create a file called file.txt:
$ cat file.txt
List of to delete:

Now delete all file listed in file.txt, enter:
$ xargs rm

How do I delete a file named -foo.txt or a directory named -bar?

To delete a file called -foo.txt :
rm — -foo.txt
OR
rm — ./-foo.txt
To delete a directory called -bar :
rm -r -f — -bar
The two — dashes tells rm command the end of the options and rest of the part is nothing but a file or directory name begins with a dash.

Never run rm -rf / as an administrator or normal UNIX / Linux user

WARNING! These examples will delete all files on your computer if executed.

$ rm -rf /
$ rm -rf *

rm -rf (variously, rm -rf /, rm -rf *, and others) is frequently used in jokes and anecdotes about Unix disasters. The rm -rf / variant of the command, if run by an administrator, would cause the contents of every writable mounted filesystem on the computer to be deleted. Do not try these commands.

Conclusion

You learned how to delete files on Linux and Unix-like operating systems. Here are all important options for GNU rm command (read man page here)

Remove files command summary

Option	Description
-f	Ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt
-i	Prompt before every file removal
-I	Prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively; 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[=all]	do not remove ‘/’ (default); with ‘all’, reject any command line argument on a separate device from its parent
-r	remove directories and their contents recursively
-R	same as above
-d	rmove empty directories
-v	Explain what is being done

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How to Remove Files and Directories in Linux Command Line [Beginner’s Tutorial]

How to delete a file in Linux? How to delete a directory in Linux? Let’s see how to do both of these tasks with one magical command called rm.

How to delete files in Linux

Let me show you various cases of removing files.

1. Delete a single file

If you want to remove a single file, simply use the rm command with the file name. You may need to add the path if the file is not in your current directory.

If the file is write protected i.e. you don’t have write permission to the file, you’ll be asked to confirm the deletion of the write-protected file.

You can type yes or y and press enter key to confirm the deletion. Read this article to know more about Linux file permissions.

2. Force delete a file

If you want to remove files without any prompts (like the one you saw above), you can use the force removal option -f.

3. Remove multiple files

To remove multiple files at once, you can provide all the filenames.

You can also use wildcard (*) and regex instead of providing all the files individually to the rm command. For example, if you want to remove all the files ending in .hpp in the current directory, you can use rm command in the following way:

4. Remove files interactively

Of course, removing all the matching files at once could be a risky business. This is why rm command has the interactive mode. You can use the interactive mode with the option -i.

It will ask for confirmation for each of the file. You can enter y to delete the file and n for skipping the deletion.

You just learned to delete files. Let’s see how to remove directory in Linux.

How to remove directories in Linux

There is a command called rmdir which is short for remove directory. However, this rmdir command can only be used for deleting empty directories.

If you try to delete a non-empty directory with rmdir, you’ll see an error message:

There is no rmdir force. You cannot force rmdir to delete non-empty directory.

This is why I am going to use the same rm command for deleting folders as well. Remembering rm command is a lot more useful than rmdir which in my opinion is not worth the trouble.

1. Remove an empty directory

To remove an empty directory, you can use the -d option. This is equivalent to the rmdir command and helps you ensure that the directory is empty before deleting it.

2. Remove directory with content

To remove directory with contents, you can use the recursive option with rm command.

This will delete all the contents of the directory including its sub-directories. If there are write-protected files and directories, you’ll be asked to confirm the deletion.

3. Force remove a directory and its content

If you want to avoid the confirmation prompt, you can force delete.

4. Remove multiple directories

You can also delete multiple directories at once with rm command.

Summary

Here’s a summary of the rm command and its usage for a quick reference.

Purpose	Command
Delete a single file	rm filename
Delete multiple files	rm file1 file2 file3
Force remove files	rm -f file1 file2 file3
Remove files interactively	rm -i *.txt
Remove an empty directory	rm -d dir
Remove a directory with its contents	rm -r dir
Remove multiple directories	rm -r dir1 dir 2 dir3

I hope you like this tutorial and learned to delete files and remove directories in Linux command line. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

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