Category: Linux Terminal
Added: 31st of May 2022
Viewed: 1,011 times
Using the rm command to delete a directory, files using the terminal in Linux
Basic usage of using the rm command to delete directories and files using the terminal
To delete an empty directory use the following command
rm -d {folder_name}
If you try and delete an empty directory using the -d argument you will get the following error
rm: cannot remove 'folder': Directory not empty
To delete a directory including all files use the -r switch
rm -r {folder_name}
To prompt before every removal use the -i switch
rm -ri {folder_name}
To explain what is going on after every removal using the -v switch
rm -riv {folder_name}
If you have a directory and files owned by root and you issue the rm -r command in the terminal you will get the following error
rm: cannot remove 'folder/file': Permission denied
To remove the directory and files you will issue the following command. You will need to enter your root password
sudo rm -r {folder_name}
When you use the rm command to remove directories and files they do not get sent to the trash
Why do I need to use the terminal?
If your using a desktop environment you can just as easily right click on the directory and send the directory and it's contents to trash, however if a directory and it's files are owned by root then you would need to issue the rm command through the terminal as some Linux distributions do not allow to open a directory as root via the right click menu.
Another reason you would need to use the rm command is if you needed to delete a directory and it's files on a remote server.