How to delete a non-empty directory in terminal?

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Suppose you have directory "lampp"

If you type:

rmdir lampp

This error comes up:

rmdir: failed to remove `lampp': Directory not empty

Use rm -rf lampp it delete all files and folders contains in lampp directory.


Explanation:

There are lot of way to delete a directory through CLI mode. It depend which way you are conformable.

rm -rvf /path/to/directory

• -r = remove directories and their contents recursively
• -v = explain what is being done
• -f = ignore nonexistent files, never prompt

If you are new in Linux, use man page's of commands (man rm) for more option and more accuracy.

rm -r lampp

However, you need to be careful with this command, as it makes it easy to accidentally delete a lot more than you intended.

It is a good idea to always double-check which directory you're in, and whether you typed the command correctly, before pressing Enter.

Safer version

rm -r -i lampp

Adding -i makes it a little safer, because it will prompt you on every deletion. However, if you are deleting many files this could quickly get annoying.

 

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