RM(1) General Commands Manual RM(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

rm - Remove (unlink) the FILE(s)

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**rm** \[OPTION]... FILE...

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Remove (unlink) the FILE(s)

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**-f**, **--force**](#f)

ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt

[**-i**](#i)

prompt before every removal

[**-I**](#I)

prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively. Less intrusive than -i, while still giving some protection against most mistakes

[**--interactive**\[=*<WHEN>*\]](#interactive)

prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i). Without WHEN, prompts always

*Possible values:*

- always
- once
- never

[**--one-file-system**](#one)

when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is on a file system different from that of the corresponding command line argument (NOT IMPLEMENTED)

[**--no-preserve-root**](#no)

do not treat '/' specially

[**--preserve-root**\[=*<all>*\]](#preserve)

do not remove '/' (default); with 'all', reject any command line argument on a separate device from its parent

*Possible values:*

•

all

[**-r**, **--recursive**](#r)

remove directories and their contents recursively

[**-d**, **--dir**](#d)

remove empty directories

[**-v**, **--verbose**](#v)

explain what is being done

[**-g**, **--progress**](#g)

display a progress bar. Note: this feature is not supported by GNU coreutils.

[**-h**, **--help**](#h)

Print help

[**-V**, **--version**](#V)

Print version

\[*files*]

# [EXTRA](#EXTRA)

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 unrecoverable, consider using shred.

# [VERSION](#VERSION)

v(uutils coreutils) 0.12.0

2026-09-30

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Document: rm(1) from uutils 0.12.0-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/uutils/coreutils