How to remove all but one file in linux

Linux Delete All Files In Directory Using Command Line

Linux Delete All Files In Directory

The procedure to remove all files from a directory:

1. Open the terminal application
2. To delete everything in a directory run: rm /path/to/dir/*
3. To remove all sub-directories and files: rm -r /path/to/dir/*

Let us see some examples of rm command to delete all files in a directory when using Linux operating systems.

How to remove all the files in a directory?

Suppose you have a directory called /home/vivek/data/. To list files type the ls command:
$ ls

Understanding rm command option that deleted all files in a directory

• -r : Remove directories and their contents recursively.
• -f : Force option. In other words, ignore nonexistent files and arguments, never prompt. Dangerous option. Be careful.
• -v : Verbose option. Show what rm is doing on screen.

Deleting hidden vs non-hidden files

In Linux, any file or directory that starts with a dot character called a dot file. It is to be treated as hidden file. To see hidden files pass the -a to the ls command:
ls
ls -a
ls -la
To remove all files except hidden files in a directory use:
rm /path/to/dir/*
rm -rf /path/to/dir/*
rm *
In this example, delete all files including hidden files, run:
rm -rf /path/to/dir1/<*,.*>
rm -rfv /path/to/dir1/

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Bash remove all files from a directory including hidden files using the dotglob option

If the dotglob option set, bash includes filenames beginning with a ‘.’ in the results of pathname expansion. In other words, turn on this option to delete hidden files:

See GNU/bash man page for the shopt command online here:
man bash
help shopt

Linux Remove All Files In Directory

As I said earlier one can use the unlink command too. The syntax is:
unlink filename
For example, delete file named foo.txt in the current working directory, enter:
unlink foo.txt
It can only delete a single file at a time. You can not pass multiple files or use wildcards such as *. Therefore, I strongly recommend you use the rm command as discussed above.

Conclusion

In this quick tutorial, you learned how to remove or delete all the files in a directory using the rm command. Linux offers a few more options to find and delete files. Please see the following tutorials:

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How To Delete File In Linux?

Deleting files in Linux can be sometimes tricky. We have a tool named rm which is the shortcut for the word remove. In this tutorial, we will look at how to remove or delete a file in Linux with different examples and ways.

rm Command Syntax

rm command syntax is the same as the most the Linux command. We can provide options before specifying the file and directories we cant to operate or delete.

• OPTINS states the behavior of the rm command as we will see below in detail.
• FILENAME is the file or directory name we want to delete or operate.

rm Command Help

rm command help information can be printed to the console with the —help command which is like below. Help information will provide some popular options and usages.

Delete Single File with rm Command

We will start with simple steps just deleting a single file. We will just specify the file name we want to delete. In order to remove the file successfully, we should have privileges to modify a file. For example, if we try to remove the file owned by root with a regular user we will get an error and would not delete the file. In this example, we will delete the file named foo.txt

Delete Multiple Files with rm Command

We have the ability to delete multiple files in a single rm command. We will just put file names we want to delete by separating them with space. In this example, we will delete file names foo.txt and bar.txt but we can add more if we need it.

Delete Files According To Their Extensions/Types with rm Command

Linux bahs provides the glob or asterisk in order to specify the files with a specific name or extension. We can use glob * in order to specify a specific extension like *.txt , *.pdf , *.tmp etc. We can use this extension or name specification in order to delete specific files. In this example, we will delete all *.deb extensions.

We can also specify names like deleting all files which name starts with pof like below.

Delete Files Recursively

rm command provides the ability to delete or remove files recursively. Recursive removal will check subdirectories for files to remove with the directories. We will remove the directory name ndiff with all sub-directories and files in this example. We will use -R option for the recursive operation.

Delete File with Prompt Before Every Removal

While removing files and directories we may need approval for each file to delete. In this case, we can use -i option which will prompt to accept or deny deletion of the given file.

Print Verbose Output About Delete Operation

While deleting files and directories we may want to see details of the removal operation. rm command provides a verbose option which will list information about each deletion of file or directory. We will use -v option for this.

Delete empty Directories or Folders with rmdir Command

In some cases, we need to delete empty folders. rm without options will not work in this case as we can see this in the following screenshot. We case use rmdir command to remove an empty directory or folder.

Read File Names From Text File For Delete or Removal

Another interesting use case for rm command is providing file or directory names from a list like a text file. We will use xargs command to-read the list and redirect to the rm command.

Delete File Names Starts with Dash —

Another interesting case is dash or — problem where file or directory names starting with dash . As we know Linux commands options are specified with dash . So how can rm recognize file name from option? We will use — or double dash were to specify the file or directory name start. For example we have a file named -file.txt and we want to remove. We will use the following command. As we can see the file name is specified after double dash. Options are specified before the double dash.

Delete Files By Reading Their Names From A File/List

In some cases, we may need to read a list that contains the file names we want to delete. This is generally a simple text file where each file name with their path is specified line by line. We can use xargs command to redirect the list contents to the rm command which will delete them one by one. In this example, we will read the list file names file-list.txt .

Delete Files By Finding them with find Command

find is a very useful command which is used to find files and folders. find command also provides some options like running commands on the search results. We can also remove or delete files found by the find command. In this example, we will delete files that are older than 3 days.

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How to delete and remove files on Debian Linux

Command to delete and remove files on Debian Linux

The syntax is as follows for the rm and unlink command to remove files on Debian Linux:

1. Open the Debian terminal application (bash shell)
2. Type any one of the following command to delete a file named joey.db in the current directory
3. rm joey.db
   OR
   unlink joey.db

Let use see all the rm command options to delete and remove files on Debian Linux.

Delete multiple files

Type the following command to delete the file named hannah.doc, vince.jpg, and dance.jpg located in the current directory:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm hannah.doc vince.jpg dance.jpg
You can specify path too. If a file named hannah.doc located in /tmp/ directory, you can run:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm /tmp/hannah.doc
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm /tmp/hannah.doc /home/vivek/dance.jpg /home/vivek/data/vince.jpg

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Debian Linux delete a file and prompt before every removal

To get confirmation before attempting to remove each file pass the -i option to the rm command on Debian Linux:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -i filename1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

Force rm command on Debian Linux to explain what is being done with file

Pass the -v option as follows to get verbose output on Debian Linux box:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -v filename1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -v cake-day.jpg

Debian Linux delete all files in folder or directory

You need to pass the following options:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf dir1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf /path/to/dir/
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf /home/vivek/oldschoolpics/
It will remove all files and subdirectories from a directory. So be careful. Always keep backups of all important data on Debian Linux.

Debian Linux delete file begins with a dash or hyphen

If the name of a file or directory or folder starts with a dash ( — or hyphen — ), use the following syntax:
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm — -filename1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm — —filename1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf —directory1
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm ./-file
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf ./—directory1

Do not run ‘ rm -rf / ‘ command as an administrator/root or normal Debian Linux user

rm -rf (variously, rm -rf /, rm -rf *, and others) is frequently used in jokes and anecdotes about Debian Linux disasters. The rm -rf / variant of the command, if run by an administrator, would cause the contents of every writable mounted filesystem on the computer to be deleted. Do not try these commands on Debian Linux :
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

$ rm -rf /
vivek@debian-9-stretch:

Conclusion

And there you have it, the rm command which is used to removes each given FILE Debian Linux operating systems. Please note that rm does not remove directories by default. You need to pass the -r option as described above. To see all available options for the rm command type the following man command:
rm —help
OR
man rm

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How to delete and remove files on Ubuntu Linux

Command to delete and remove files on Ubuntu Linux

The syntax is as follows for the rm and unlink command to remove files on Ubuntu Linux:

1. Open the Ubuntu terminal application (bash shell)
2. Type any one of the following command to delete a file named ubuntu.nixcraft.txt in the current directory
3. rm ubuntu.nixcraft.txt
   OR
   unlink ubuntu.nixcraft.txt

Let use see all rm command options to delete and remove files on Ubuntu Linux.

WARNING : Do not type sudo rm -R / or sudo rm -r / or sudo rm -f /* or sudo rm —no-preserve-root -rf / as it removes all the data in the root directory. Avoid data loss and you should not execute them!

Delete multiple files on Ubuntu Linux

Type the following command to delete the file named dellLaptopSerials.txt, tom.txt, and dance.jpg located in the current directory:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm dellLaptopSerials.txt tom.txt dance.jpg
You can specify path too. If a file named dellLaptopSerials.txt located in /tmp/ directory, you can run:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm /tmp/dellLaptopSerials.txt
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm /tmp/dellLaptopSerials.txt /home/vivek/dance.jpg /home/vivek/data/tom.txt

Ubuntu Linux delete a file and prompt before every removal

To get confirmation before attempting to remove each file pass the -i option to the rm command on Ubuntu Linux:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -i fileNameHere
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -i dellLaptopSerials.txt

Force rm command on Ubuntu Linux to explain what is being done with file

Pass the -v option as follows to get verbose output on Ubuntu Linux box:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -v fileNameHere
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -v cake-day.jpg

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Ubuntu Linux delete all files in folder or directory

You need to pass the following options:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf dir1
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf /path/to/dir/
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf /home/vivek/oldschoolpics/
It will remove all files and subdirectories from a directory. So be careful. Always keep backups of all important data on Ubuntu Linux.

Ubuntu Linux delete file begins with a dash or hyphen

If the name of a file or directory or folder starts with a dash ( — or hyphen — ), use the following syntax:
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm — -fileNameHere
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm — —fileNameHere
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf —DirectoryNameHere
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm ./-file
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf ./—DirectoryNameHere

Do not run ‘ rm -rf / ‘ command as an administrator/root or normal Ubuntu Linux user

rm -rf (variously, rm -rf /, rm -rf *, and others) is frequently used in jokes and anecdotes about Ubuntu Linux disasters. The rm -rf / variant of the command, if run by an administrator, would cause the contents of every writable mounted filesystem on the computer to be deleted. Do not try these commands on Ubuntu Linux :
vivek@nixcraft:

$ rm -rf /
vivek@nixcraft:

Conclusion

The rm command removes files on Ubuntu Linux. The rm command options are as follows:

• -f : Remove read-only files immediately without any confirmation.
• -i : Prompts end-users for confirmation before deleting every file.
• -v : Shows the file names on the screen as they are being processed/removed from the filesystem.
• -R OR -r : Removes the given directory along with its sub-directory/folders and all files.
• -I : Prompts users everytime when an attempt is made to delete for than three files at a time. Also works when deleting files recursively.

See rm command man page by typing the following man command:
% man rm
% rm —help

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