Linux commands: rmdir

By Flavio Copes

Learn how the Linux rmdir command removes empty folders, one or many at a time, and why you need rm -rf instead to delete a folder that still has files.

Just as you can create a folder using mkdir, you can delete a folder using rmdir:

mkdir fruits
rmdir fruits

You can also delete multiple folders at once:

mkdir fruits cars
rmdir fruits cars

The folder you delete must be empty.

To delete folders with files in them, we’ll use the more generic rm command which deletes files and folders, using the -rf options:

rm -rf fruits cars

Be careful as this command does not ask for confirmation and it will immediately remove anything you ask it to remove.

There is no bin when removing files from the command line, and recovering lost files can be hard.

This command works on Linux, macOS, WSL, and anywhere you have a UNIX environment

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