OS Manuals

/usr/bin/rm

GNU core utilities

From coreutils 9.12-r7 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running rm --help (exit 0). permalink

Also provided by 1 other package version
Usage: /usr/bin/rm [OPTION]... [FILE]...
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 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, -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.

Any attempt to remove a file whose last file name component is '.' or '..'
is rejected with a diagnostic.

To remove a file whose name starts with a '-', for example '-foo',
use one of these commands:
  /usr/bin/rm -- -foo

  /usr/bin/rm ./-foo

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 unrecoverable, consider using shred(1).

Report bugs to: <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/rm>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) rm invocation'
Options (12)
OptionDescriptionSource
-f, --forceignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompthelp + man
-iprompt before every removalhelp + man
-Iprompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively;help + man
--interactive WHENprompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i);help
--one-file-systemwhen removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is on a file system different from that of the corresponding command line argumenthelp + man
--no-preserve-rootdo not treat '/' speciallyhelp + man
--preserve-root alldo not remove '/' (default);help
-r, -R, --recursiveremove directories and their contents recursivelyhelp + man
-d, --dirremove empty directorieshelp + man
-v, --verboseexplain what is being donehelp + man
--helpdisplay this help and exithelp + man
--versionoutput version information and exithelp + man

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.