How do I remove a full directory in Linux?

Question

How do I remove a full directory in Linux?

Answer

To remove a directory that is full with other files or directories, use the below command.

rm -r directory

Note: In the above example, you would replace "directory" with the name of the full directory you wish to delete. So if the directory was named files, you would type: rm -r files

Additional information

When attempting to remove a directory using a command such as the rmdir command, you may receive a prompt such as "rmdir: ‘dir’: Directory not empty" and be unable to delete the directory.

  • See the rm and rmdir commands for further information about each of these commands and other available switches.

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