Linux force delete directory

How to Force Delete a Directory in Linux: Helpful Commands and Options

Learn how to force delete a directory in Linux using specific commands and options. This guide includes tips and best practices for deleting non-empty directories and files.

• Use “rm -rf dirname” Command to Force Delete a Directory
• Use “-exec” Option in “find” Command to Delete All Files in a Directory
• Use “rm -r” Command with Recursive Option to Delete Directory and Its Contents
• Use “Shift + Delete” Keyboard Shortcut to Force Delete a File or Folder Permanently
• Use “-i” or “-I” Options with “rm” Command to Prompt for Confirmation Before Removing Files or Directories
• Other helpful code examples for forcing deletion of directories in Linux
• Conclusion
• How do I forcibly delete a directory in Linux?
• How do I delete a folder that won’t delete Linux?
• How do I delete a folder that won’t delete?
• How to delete directory in bash?

Linux is a powerful operating system that provides several commands to manage files and directories. Sometimes, users may encounter issues when trying to delete a directory that contains files or subdirectories. In such cases, specific commands and options need to be used to force delete the directory. In this blog post, we will guide you on how to force delete a directory in linux using some helpful commands and options.

Use “rm -rf dirname” Command to Force Delete a Directory

The “rm” command is used to remove files and directories in Linux. The “-r” option is used to remove directories and their contents recursively. The “-f” option is used to force the removal of directories and their contents. To force delete a non-empty directory in Linux, use the command “rm -rf dirname”. For example, to force delete a directory named “mydirectory”, use the command:

This command will remove the directory “mydirectory” along with its contents without prompting for confirmation.

Use “-exec” Option in “find” Command to Delete All Files in a Directory

The “find” command is used to search for files and directories in linux . The “-exec” option is used to execute a command on each file or directory found by the “find” command. To delete all files in a directory using the “find” command, use the following command:

find dirname -type f -exec rm <> \; 

Replace “dirname” with the name of the directory you want to delete files from. This command will find all files in the directory and execute the “rm” command on each file, which will delete them. The “<> \;” part of the command is used to pass the file name to the “rm” command. Note that this command will not delete any subdirectories in the directory.

Use “rm -r” Command with Recursive Option to Delete Directory and Its Contents

The “rm” command can be used with the “-r” option to remove directories and their contents recursively. To delete a directory and all its contents, use the command “rm -r dirname”. For example, to delete a directory named “mydirectory”, use the command:

This command will remove the directory “mydirectory” along with its contents without prompting for confirmation.

Use “Shift + Delete” Keyboard Shortcut to Force Delete a File or Folder Permanently

The “ Shift + Delete ” keyboard shortcut can be used to force delete a file or folder permanently in Linux. This bypasses the trash and permanently deletes the file or folder. To use this shortcut, select the file or folder you want to delete and press “Shift + Delete” keys on your keyboard.

Use “-i” or “-I” Options with “rm” Command to Prompt for Confirmation Before Removing Files or Directories

The “-i” option with “rm” command prompts for confirmation before removing each file or directory. The “-I” option with “rm” command prompts for confirmation once before removing more than three files or when removing recursively. For example, to prompt for confirmation before removing a file named “file.txt” in a directory named “mydirectory”, use the command:

This command will prompt for confirmation before removing the file “file.txt”. Similarly, to prompt for confirmation before removing a directory named “mydirectory”, use the command:

This command will prompt for confirmation before removing the directory “mydirectory” and its contents recursively.

Other helpful code examples for forcing deletion of directories in Linux

# To remove non-empty directories and all the files without being prompted, use rm with the -r (recursive) and -f options: rm -rf dirname

In shell, force delete folder linux code example

Conclusion

In conclusion, force deleting a directory in Linux requires specific commands and options. The “rm -rf dirname” command is used to force delete a non-empty directory. The “find” command can be used to delete all files in a directory. The “rm -r” command can be used to delete a directory and its contents recursively. Using the “Shift + Delete” keyboard shortcut can force delete a file or folder permanently. The “-i” or “-I” options with the “rm” command can prompt for confirmation before removing files or directories. By using these commands and options, you can easily force delete directories in linux and manage your files and directories efficiently.

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How to Force Remove Directory in Linux? [Step-by-Step]

A Linux system contains thousands of files and directories. Some files or directory is necessary and some are not necessary in long run. Keeping those unnecessary files or directories is not a good manner for maintaining an efficient system. If those files or directories are write-protected then you need to force remove the directory in Linux. In this article, I will demonstrate some approaches to remove a directory in Linux forcefully.

Key Takeaways

• Getting familiar with the process of forcefully removing any directory in Linux.
• Learning about the recursive and force options of the rm command in Linux.

Process Flow Chart

Distro Used Throughout the Tutorial: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

Common Unsuccessful Approach to Remove Write-Protected Folder

The most common approach to removing any write-protected directory is using the rm -r command. If you try to remove any write-protected directory using the rm -r command, you will get a confirmation prompt. It can not remove a write-protected directory without confirming from the confirmation prompt.

Watch Step-by-Step Process to Force Remove a Write Protected Directory in Linux

Step-by-Step Process to Force Remove a Write Protected Directory in Linux

You can easily remove a write-protected directory using the rf option with the rm command. In this case, I will remove a write-protected directory named sample without asking for any confirmation. To do so, follow the below procedures.

Steps to Follow >

➋ Now, for printing the permission mode of the sample directory execute the following command.

• ls: Lists all the contents of the current directory.
• -l: Lists all the contents of the current directory with size, permission information, owner information, group information, last modification time, etc.

➌ Then, run the following command in the terminal to remove the sample directory forcefully.

• rm: Deletes folder.
• -rf: Deletes the following directory forcefully without asking for any confirmation.
• sample: Directory name.

➍ Now, to see the existence of the sample directory execute the following command

• ls: Lists all the contents of the current directory.
• -l: Lists all the contents of the current directory with size, permission information, owner information, group information, last modification time, etc.

The above image shows that I have successfully removed the write-protected sample directory forcefully.

Complementary Information

Besides knowing the process of forcibly removing the directory in Linux, you will find the below information helpful.

How to Remove Directory Recursively in Linux Using the rm Command

You can easily remove a directory recursively in Linux using the rm command in Linux. Here I will remove a folder named folder1 using the rm command in Linux. To do so, follow the below procedures.

Steps to Follow >

➊ At first, open the Ubuntu terminal.

➋ Now, for printing the permission mode of the folder1 directory execute the following command.

• ls: Lists all the contents of the current directory.
• -l: Lists all the contents of the current directory with size, permission information, owner information, group information, last modification time, etc.

➌ Then, run the following command in the terminal to remove the folder1 directory recursively.

• rm: Deletes folder.
• -r: Deletes the following directory recursively.
• folder1: Directory name.

➍ Now, to see the existence of the folder1 directory execute the following command.

• ls: Lists all the contents of the current directory.
• -l: Lists all the contents of the current directory with size, permission information, owner information, group information, last modification time, etc.

The above image shows that I have successfully removed the directory named “folder1” recursively.

Conclusion

In this article, I have discussed the process of forcefully removing directories in Linux. I hope that after going through this article, you will find the necessary information and be productive enough to remove directories forcefully in Linux.

People Also Ask

How do you force delete a directory?

You can delete a directory forcefully by executing the “rm -rf DIRECTORY_NAME” command in the command prompt.

How do you force delete a file in Linux?

If you want to delete a file forcefully in Linux, execute the “rm -rf FILE_NAME” command in the Ubuntu terminal.

How do I delete a directory in Linux without permission?

You can easily delete a directory in Linux without permission forcefully by running the “rm -rf DIRECTORY_NAME” command into the Ubuntu terminal.

What is ‘rm -rf FILE/DIRECTORY_NAME’ in Linux?

The “rm -rf FILE/DIRECTORY_NAME” is the command syntax for removing a file or directory forcefully in Linux.

Related Articles

• How to Undelete Folder in Ubuntu? [With Solutions]
• Remove All Files from Current Directory in Linux [2 Methods]
• How to Remove a Non-Empty Directory in Linux [2 Methods]
• Remove All Files in a Directory with the Prompt in Linux
• How to Remove a User and Home Directory in Linux [2 Methods]
• 3 Ways to Remove All Files in a Linux Directory
• How to Find and Delete Directory in Linux [3 Methods]

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How To Force Delete Directory In Linux?

The rmdir command is used to delete directories in Linux. The rmdir command simply removes or deletes an empty directory but does not work with non-empty directories. If we try to remove a non-empty directory in Linux with the rmdir command we get an error like below.

Force Delete Directory with rm Command

We should use the rmdir command in order to force delete the directory. Force means if there is a minor error for the deletion the removal is not stopped. Forcing to delete a directory also completes the delete operation even if the directory has files and folders. The -f option is used to specify the force option. The -r option is used to delete a directory recursively event there are child directories inside the target directory. We can simply express the -r and -f options like -rf .

We can delete a directory that is not located in the current working directory. We should provide the target directory absolute or relative path to the rm command. In the following example, we delete the tmp directory which is located under the /var .

Force Delete Multiple Directories with rm Command

We can force to delete multiple directories by using the rm command. The directory names are provided to the rm command as parameters. In the following example, we delete the directories nmap/ , tmp/ , db/ .

Verbose and Force Delete Directory

By default deleting directories forcibly does not display verbose or detailed information about the directory removals. We can use the -v option in order to delete the directory forcibly and also display information about the deleted directory.

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