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 --interactive=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,
       consider using shred.

AUTHOR

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

REPORTING BUGS

       Report rm bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
       Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright  ©  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 command

              info coreutils 'rm invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.

GNU coreutils 8.21                                 March 2016                                              RM(1)