rm

Command Function

This command is used to delete a file or folder.

Syntax

rm [-fv] FILE or rm [-rv] [PATH | filename]...

Parameters

Table 1 Parameter description

Parameter	Description	Value Range
-r	Deletes empty or non-empty directories.	N/A
-f	Deletes a file or directory forcibly without confirmation. No error will be reported when a file that does not exist is to be deleted.	N/A
-v	Displays the deletion process.	N/A
PATH/filename	Specifies the name of the file or directory to delete. The value can be a path.	N/A

Usage

The rm command can be used to delete multiple files or folders at a time.
You can run rm -r to delete a non-empty directory.
If the rm command without -f is used to delete a file that does not exist, an error will be reported.

Example

Run the following commands:

rm testfile
rm -r testpath/

Output

Example 1: deleting testfile

OHOS:/$ ls
bin  etc  proc    storage  testfile  usr
dev  lib  sdcard  system   userdata  vendor
OHOS:/$ rm testfile
OHOS:/$ ls
bin  etc  proc    storage  userdata  vendor
dev  lib  sdcard  system   usr

Example 2: deleting testpath, a non-empty directory

OHOS:/$ ls
bin  etc  proc    storage  testpath  usr
dev  lib  sdcard  system   userdata  vendor
OHOS:/$ rm -r testpath/
OHOS:/$ ls
bin  etc  proc    storage  userdata  vendor
dev  lib  sdcard  system   usr