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 speci-
     fied 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 --interactive=always option
     is given, rm prompts the user for whether to remove the file.  If	the  re-
     sponse 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 corresponding command  line
	    argument

     --no-preserve-root
	    do not treat '/' specially

     --preserve-root[=all]
	    do not remove '/' (default); with 'all', reject any command line ar-
	    gument 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 con-
     tents.

     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:

	    rm -- -foo

	    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).

AUTHOR
     Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M. Stallman, and Jim Meyer-
     ing.

REPORTING BUGS
     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/>
     Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright	(C) 2026 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 9.11		   April 2026				   RM(1)