-
To remove a folder with all its contents (including all interior folders):
rm -rf /path/to/directory -
To remove all the contents of the folder (including all interior folders) but not the folder itself:
rm -rf /path/to/directory/*or, if you want to make sure that hidden files/directories are also removed:
rm -rf /path/to/directory/{*,.*} -
To remove all the "files" from inside a folder(not removing interior folders):
rm -f /path/to/directory/{*,.*}
Warning: if you have spaces in your path, make sure to always use quotes.
rm -rf /path/to the/directory/*
is equivalent to 2 separate rm -rf calls:
rm -rf /path/to
rm -rf the/directory/*
To avoid this issue, you can use 'single-quotes'(prevents all expansions, even of shell variables) or "double-quotes"(allows expansion of shell variables, but prevents other expansions):
rm -rf "/path/to the/directory/"*
Where:
rm- stands for remove-f- stands for force which is helpful when you don't want to be asked/prompted if you want to remove an archive, for example.-r- stands for recursive which means that you want to go recursively down every folder and remove everything.