# Linux commands: rmdir

> 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.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2020-08-27 | Topics: [CLI](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/cli/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/linux-command-rmdir/

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

```bash
mkdir fruits
rmdir fruits
```

You can also delete multiple folders at once:

```bash
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:

```bash
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