Editing Rm (Unix) (section)

== Use ==

By default, <code>rm</code> removes specified files, but does not remove a directory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/rm.1.html|title=rm(1) - Linux manual page|website=man7.org}}</ref> For example, the following removes the file named '''[[Foobar|foo]]'''

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ rm foo
</syntaxhighlight>

But that command fails if '''foo''' is a directory. To delete directory '''foo''':

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ rm -r foo
</syntaxhighlight>

The command is often used with [[xargs]] to supply a list of files:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ xargs rm < filelist
</syntaxhighlight>

To remove all [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG images]] in all directories below the current one:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
$ find . -name '*.png' -exec rm {} +
</syntaxhighlight>