rm

Overview

rm removes directory entries (unlinks files). By default it does not remove directories unless -r is given. There is no undelete in coreutils — recovery requires backups or filesystem tools.

Syntax

rm [options] file...

Common Options

Option	Description
-r / -R	Recursive (directories)
-f	Force; ignore missing, no prompts
-i	Prompt each
-I	Prompt once if many/recursive
-v	Verbose
--one-file-system	Do not recurse into other mounts
--preserve-root	Default: refuse / recursive remove

Safety

Never experiment with rm -rf / or unquoted globs as root. Prefer: - trash-cli / file manager trash when available
- Move to a quarantine dir first
- find … -print dry-run before -delete
Refuse muscle-memory alias rm='rm -i' as your only protection — scripts bypass aliases.

Examples with Explanations

Files

rm file.txt
rm -v file1 file2

Interactive

rm -i *.log

Directory tree

rm -r build/
rm -rf build/   # no prompt; double-check path

Refuse accidental root

rm -rf / --preserve-root   # still refused; do not try variants

Safer recursive pattern

# dry run
find ./tmpdir -type f -name '*.tmp' -print
# delete
find ./tmpdir -type f -name '*.tmp' -delete

One filesystem

sudo rm -r --one-file-system /mnt/usb/data

Avoids walking into bind mounts you did not intend.

Notes & Pitfalls

• Globs are expanded by the shell before rm runs.
  
• Hidden files: rm * does not remove dotfiles; rm -r dir does remove them inside dir.
  
• Busy files may unlink but space frees when last fd closes (lsof deleted files).
  
• ZFS/btrfs snapshots and backups are real recovery options — not rm itself.

Related Commands

• unlink — single file
  
• rmdir — empty directories only
  
• find -delete — selective tree deletes
  
• shred — overwrite content (not always effective on SSDs/CoW)
  
• trash-put — soft delete if installed

Additional Resources

• man rm