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
       specified 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  --interac-
       tive=always  option is given, rm prompts the user for whether to remove
       the file.  If the response 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
	      do not remove '/' (default)

       -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.

       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,  con-
       sider using shred.

       GNU  coreutils  online  help:  <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

AUTHOR
       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M.  Stallman,  and  Jim
       Meyering.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright  (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
       GPL version 3 or later <http://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)

       The  full  documentation	 for rm is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
       the info and rm programs are properly installed at your site, the  com-
       mand

	      info coreutils 'rm invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU coreutils 8.22		 February 2016				 RM(1)