rm -rf Command in Linux With Examples

rm command in UNIX stands for remove and by default is used for removing files. It is simple but a powerful command especially when used with options such as -rf which allow it to delete non-empty directories forcefully.

Removing Files in Linux:

The rm command, By default, cannot remove Directories and only works on files. 

$ mkdir A
$ touch B.txt
$ rm B.txt
$ rm A

We use mkdir and touch commands to make directories and text files respectively, and ls command to list files in the current working directory.

Removing Multiple Files in Linux:

To remove multiple files at once, we can write file names separated by spaces after the rm command or use a pattern to remove multiple files that fit the pattern.

$ rm a b
$ rm *.txt        [Pattern]             

removing multiple files

Removing a Directory in Linux:

To remove a directory, you can use the -r or -R switch, which deletes a directory recursively including its content (subdirectories and files). If it is an empty directory you can also use rmdir command.

$ rm a/
$ rm -R a/

removing directory

Removing Files with Confirmation Prompt:

To get a confirmation prompt while deleting a file, use the -i option.

$ rm -i a.txt

removing files with confirmation

Removing Directories with Confirmation Prompt:

To get a confirmation prompt while deleting a directory and its sub-directories, use the -R and -i option.

$ rm -Ri A/

removing Directories with confirmation

Removing File or Directory Forcefully:

To remove a file or directory forcefully, you can use the option -f force a deletion operation without rm prompting you for confirmation. For example, if a file is unwritable, rm will prompt you whether to remove that file or not, to avoid this and simply execute the operation.

$ rm -f a.txt

When you combine the -r and -f flags, it means that you recursively and forcibly remove a directory (and its contents) without prompting for confirmation.

$ rm -rf B

Here, we created a text file and directory and made it read-only by taking its write access using chmod command.

Showing Information While Deletion:

To show more information when deleting a file or directory, use the -v option, this will enable rm command to show what is being done on the standard output.

$ rm -rv *

Is rm -rf Command bulletproof?

rm -rf as powerful as it is, can only bypass read-only access of nested files and not directories. To delete the directory ( B/C ) we need to access it through superuser privileges.

It is not recommended to use this command as a superuser if you are not 100% sure what you are doing as you can delete important files.

The “rm -Rf /” Command:

You should always keep in mind that “rm -rf” is one of the most dangerous commands, that you should never run on a Linux system, especially as a root. The following command will clear everything on your root(/) partition.

$ sudo rm -rf /

There are checks to prevent root deletion but the additional option of –no-preserve-root bypass that failsafe. It’s a meme on the internet that is equivalent to deletion of system32 in your windows os C:\ drive.

$ sudo rm -rf / --no-preserve-root

You should not use the above command in any case whatsoever, for curious folks I did it use the command with –no-preserve-root.  And after some deletion of important files and directories, I was left with nothing but hanged up output shown below.

Create Alias for rm Command in Linux:

To permanently use -i option for safety, add an alias in your $HOME/.bashrc file.

alias rm="rm -i"

Source your .bashrc file as shown or open a new terminal for the changes to take effect.

$ source $HOME/.bashrc

Now, whenever you execute rm, it will be invoked with the -i option by default (but using the -f flag will override this setting).

Does rm actually Delete a File?

rm doesn’t actually delete files but rather unlink them (free the memory for further use).  To permanently delete the data you can use the shred or dd command.