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 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 --interac‐
       tive=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 and arguments, never prompt

       -i     prompt before every 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  corre‐
              sponding 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, -R, --recursive
              remove directories and their contents recursively

       -d, --dir
              remove empty directories

       -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 might be possible to
       recover some of its contents, given  sufficient  expertise  and/or
       time.   For greater assurance that the contents are truly unrecov‐
       erable, consider using shred.

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

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU  coreutils  online  help:  <https://www.gnu.org/software/core‐
       utils/>
       Report   any   translation   bugs   to    <https://translationpro‐
       ject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  ©  2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+:
       GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) rm invocation'

GNU coreutils 8.32              April 2020                          RM(1)