Rmdir

Rmdir

Rmdir is a command-line utility used in various operating systems to remove empty directories. The term "rmdir" stands for "remove directory". This command is commonly used by system administrators and advanced users to manage file systems efficiently.

Usage

The basic syntax of the rmdir command is as follows:

``` rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY... ```

Here, "OPTION" refers to the various options that can be used with the command, and "DIRECTORY" represents the name of the directory to be removed.

By default, the rmdir command only removes empty directories. If a directory contains any files or subdirectories, the command will fail and display an error message. To remove non-empty directories, the user can use the "-r" or "--recursive" option, which recursively removes all files and subdirectories within the specified directory.

Examples

Here are a few examples of how the rmdir command can be used:

1. To remove an empty directory named "mydir", the following command can be used:

``` rmdir mydir ```

2. To remove a directory and all its contents, the "-r" option can be used:

``` rmdir -r mydir ```

3. To remove multiple directories at once, simply list them after the command:

``` rmdir dir1 dir2 dir3 ```

Compatibility

The rmdir command is available in various operating systems, including Unix-like systems (such as Linux and macOS) and Windows. However, the options and behavior of the command may vary slightly between different platforms.

See Also

• rm (Unix)
• File system
• Command-line interface