Linux delete files from file

How To Delete File In Linux?

Deleting files in Linux can be sometimes tricky. We have a tool named rm which is the shortcut for the word remove. In this tutorial, we will look at how to remove or delete a file in Linux with different examples and ways.

rm Command Syntax

rm command syntax is the same as the most the Linux command. We can provide options before specifying the file and directories we cant to operate or delete.

• OPTINS states the behavior of the rm command as we will see below in detail.
• FILENAME is the file or directory name we want to delete or operate.

rm Command Help

rm command help information can be printed to the console with the —help command which is like below. Help information will provide some popular options and usages.

Delete Single File with rm Command

We will start with simple steps just deleting a single file. We will just specify the file name we want to delete. In order to remove the file successfully, we should have privileges to modify a file. For example, if we try to remove the file owned by root with a regular user we will get an error and would not delete the file. In this example, we will delete the file named foo.txt

Delete Multiple Files with rm Command

We have the ability to delete multiple files in a single rm command. We will just put file names we want to delete by separating them with space. In this example, we will delete file names foo.txt and bar.txt but we can add more if we need it.

Delete Files According To Their Extensions/Types with rm Command

Linux bahs provides the glob or asterisk in order to specify the files with a specific name or extension. We can use glob * in order to specify a specific extension like *.txt , *.pdf , *.tmp etc. We can use this extension or name specification in order to delete specific files. In this example, we will delete all *.deb extensions.

We can also specify names like deleting all files which name starts with pof like below.

Delete Files Recursively

rm command provides the ability to delete or remove files recursively. Recursive removal will check subdirectories for files to remove with the directories. We will remove the directory name ndiff with all sub-directories and files in this example. We will use -R option for the recursive operation.

Delete File with Prompt Before Every Removal

While removing files and directories we may need approval for each file to delete. In this case, we can use -i option which will prompt to accept or deny deletion of the given file.

Print Verbose Output About Delete Operation

While deleting files and directories we may want to see details of the removal operation. rm command provides a verbose option which will list information about each deletion of file or directory. We will use -v option for this.

Delete empty Directories or Folders with rmdir Command

In some cases, we need to delete empty folders. rm without options will not work in this case as we can see this in the following screenshot. We case use rmdir command to remove an empty directory or folder.

Read File Names From Text File For Delete or Removal

Another interesting use case for rm command is providing file or directory names from a list like a text file. We will use xargs command to-read the list and redirect to the rm command.

Delete File Names Starts with Dash —

Another interesting case is dash or — problem where file or directory names starting with dash . As we know Linux commands options are specified with dash . So how can rm recognize file name from option? We will use — or double dash were to specify the file or directory name start. For example we have a file named -file.txt and we want to remove. We will use the following command. As we can see the file name is specified after double dash. Options are specified before the double dash.

Delete Files By Reading Their Names From A File/List

In some cases, we may need to read a list that contains the file names we want to delete. This is generally a simple text file where each file name with their path is specified line by line. We can use xargs command to redirect the list contents to the rm command which will delete them one by one. In this example, we will read the list file names file-list.txt .

Delete Files By Finding them with find Command

find is a very useful command which is used to find files and folders. find command also provides some options like running commands on the search results. We can also remove or delete files found by the find command. In this example, we will delete files that are older than 3 days.

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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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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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How to remove files and directories quickly via terminal (bash shell) [closed]

Want to improve this question? Update the question so it’s on-topic for Stack Overflow.

Closed 6 years ago .

From terminal window:

When I use the rm command it can only remove files.
When I use the rmdir command it only removes empty folders.

If I have a directory nested with files and folders within folders with files and so on, is there any way to delete all the files and folders without all the strenuous command typing?

If it makes a difference, I am using the mac bash shell from terminal, not Microsoft DOS or linux.

4 Answers 4

-r «recursive» -f «force» (suppress confirmation messages)

Would remove everything (folders & files) in the current directory.

But be careful! Only execute this command if you are absolutely sure, that you are in the right directory.

Yes, there is. The -r option tells rm to be recursive, and remove the entire file hierarchy rooted at its arguments; in other words, if given a directory, it will remove all of its contents and then perform what is effectively an rmdir .

The other two options you should know are -i and -f . -i stands for interactive; it makes rm prompt you before deleting each and every file. -f stands for force; it goes ahead and deletes everything without asking. -i is safer, but -f is faster; only use it if you’re absolutely sure you’re deleting the right thing. You can specify these with -r or not; it’s an independent setting.

And as usual, you can combine switches: rm -r -i is just rm -ri , and rm -r -f is rm -rf .

Also note that what you’re learning applies to bash on every Unix OS: OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, etc. In fact, rm ‘s syntax is the same in pretty much every shell on every Unix OS. OS X, under the hood, is really a BSD Unix system.

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