Linux Pocket Guide

Name

rmdir [options] directories — coreutils

Synopsis

/bin stdin stdout - file -- opt --help --version

The rmdir (remove directory) command deletes one or more empty directories you name. To delete a nonempty directory and its contents, use (carefully) rm -r directory. Use rm -ri directory to delete interactively, or rm -rf directory to annihilate without any error messages or confirmation.

Useful options

-p

If you supply a directory path (not just a simple directory name), delete not only the given directory, but the specified parent directories automatically, all of which must be otherwise empty. So rmdir -p /one/two/three will delete not only /one/two/three, but also /one/two and /one if they exist.