I usually delete directories by using rm:
rm -r myDir
However I am aware of another command, rmdir, which seems to do the job just as well:
rmdir myDir
What is the difference between these two commands and when should each be used?
2 Answers
rm -r removes a directory and all its contents; rmdir will only remove a directory if the directory is empty. I like to use the following to remove a directory and all its contents:
rm -rf <directory_to_be_removed>
-
22Note, that you usually should not use
-fif you do not need to. Its handy to use-rfevery time, but it disables (almost) all safety checks.– alloJul 2, 2017 at 16:40 -
7-1 for uneccesary recommendation of rm's
-fflag which can have unforeseeable, unrevertable consequences– catJul 3, 2017 at 2:41 -
1
-
-
@cat The
rmcommand in general may have these consequences. The-fflag is useful when running underset -ein a script. I'd agree that using without thinking is unnecessary.– Kusalananda ♦Mar 31, 2019 at 9:35
You should use rm -r when wanting to recursively remove a directory and all its contents, or when the target may be a directory or file and you want to delete it regardless of what it is.
You should use rmdir when wanting to remove an empty directory.
The rmdir command is useful since it refuses to remove non-empty directories and files. This serves as a safety catch in situations where you may want to be absolutely sure that what you're deleting is a directory and that the directory is empty before deleting it (for example in a script) and want to treat it as an error condition otherwise.
answered Mar 31, 2019 at 10:07
rmdir(2)which can only remove empty directories.rm -r: (1) Type in the command, but don't enter it (2) Take your hands away from the keyboard (3) Count to five (4) Hit ENTER. I've started doing something like this with all dangerous commands, to give me a chance to look at what I'm doing, make sure I typed things in correctly, think about whether there could be unexpected consequences, etc. Occasionally this leads me to erase my command and do some extra checks first, for example.rm -rf ~ /*- clean out my home directory. Or wait, maybe clean out the system. Always good to double check ;).rmdirandrm -rare two strings of the same length :-)