bash - remove all directories (and contents) but not files in pwd

I'd like to remove all directories from the pwd but leave the files in the pwd alone. If the content of my pwd is:

mydir1

mydir2

myfile1

myfile2

then I'd like to be left with just

myfile1

myfile2

I assume that I need to use rm -r -i

Am I correct?

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

add a comment |

I'd like to remove all directories from the pwd but leave the files in the pwd alone. If the content of my pwd is:

mydir1

mydir2

myfile1

myfile2

then I'd like to be left with just

myfile1

myfile2

I assume that I need to use rm -r -i

Am I correct?

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

add a comment |

I'd like to remove all directories from the pwd but leave the files in the pwd alone. If the content of my pwd is:

mydir1

mydir2

myfile1

myfile2

then I'd like to be left with just

myfile1

myfile2

I assume that I need to use rm -r -i

Am I correct?

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

I'd like to remove all directories from the pwd but leave the files in the pwd alone. If the content of my pwd is:

mydir1

mydir2

myfile1

myfile2

then I'd like to be left with just

myfile1

myfile2

I assume that I need to use rm -r -i

Am I correct?

linux bash mingw

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

edited Feb 7 '14 at 22:05

lesmana

13k53442

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

asked Feb 7 '14 at 15:33

atomh33ls

3245924

add a comment |

5 Answers
5

active

oldest

votes

No that would give you "missing operand" since you didn't specify anything. Putting a "*" would prompt also for files.

I'd give a try to:

find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec rm -r {} ;

The "mindepth 1" will exclude "." from the results, the "maxdepth 1" will exclude trying to do under the directories that will anyway get deleted (therefore creating a warning). But in practice you could leave them both out if you agree to have a few "innocent" warnings.

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

add a comment |

I found this one somewhere:

rm -r */

Seems the easiest way to go. With your example, you would have to confirm each case, if you have 5 files it's OK, but with bigger file structures an interactive mode is't the way to go... Just as a suggestion, if it's important information, make a backup...

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

1

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

add a comment |

Use

rm -rf ./*/

That avoids interactive mode an deletes only directories in your local directory.

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

add a comment |

Something like this should work:

find /path -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' ;

-type d looks for only directories

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

add a comment |

-1

you can also try in this way to delete only all folders not files from any location in linux.



    #delete only all dir and don't touch files

    #!/bin/bash

    for dir in `ls -l | grep ^d | awk '{print $9}'`

    do

    echo "going to delete $dir " `rm -rf $dir`

    done

    ls

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

add a comment |

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5 Answers
5

active

oldest

votes

5 Answers
5

active

oldest

votes

No that would give you "missing operand" since you didn't specify anything. Putting a "*" would prompt also for files.

I'd give a try to:

find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec rm -r {} ;

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

add a comment |

No that would give you "missing operand" since you didn't specify anything. Putting a "*" would prompt also for files.

I'd give a try to:

find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec rm -r {} ;

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

add a comment |

No that would give you "missing operand" since you didn't specify anything. Putting a "*" would prompt also for files.

I'd give a try to:

find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec rm -r {} ;

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

No that would give you "missing operand" since you didn't specify anything. Putting a "*" would prompt also for files.

I'd give a try to:

find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -exec rm -r {} ;

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

fede.evol

1,652175

add a comment |

I found this one somewhere:

rm -r */

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

1

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

add a comment |

I found this one somewhere:

rm -r */

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

1

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

add a comment |

I found this one somewhere:

rm -r */

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

I found this one somewhere:

rm -r */

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:42

Martin

23115

1

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

add a comment |

1

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

That will also follow symbolic links, which very probably isn't desired here.

– JdeBP
Feb 7 '14 at 16:43

add a comment |

Use

rm -rf ./*/

That avoids interactive mode an deletes only directories in your local directory.

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

add a comment |

Use

rm -rf ./*/

That avoids interactive mode an deletes only directories in your local directory.

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

add a comment |

Use

rm -rf ./*/

That avoids interactive mode an deletes only directories in your local directory.

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

Use

rm -rf ./*/

That avoids interactive mode an deletes only directories in your local directory.

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

answered Feb 8 '14 at 16:15

WeSee

21612

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

add a comment |

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

As JdeBP pointed out on Martin's very similar answer, if the current (top-level) directory contains symbolic links to other directories, they will also be deleted (even if they aren't in or subordinate to the current directory).

– Scott
Dec 21 '18 at 7:07

add a comment |

Something like this should work:

find /path -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' ;

-type d looks for only directories

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

add a comment |

Something like this should work:

find /path -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' ;

-type d looks for only directories

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

add a comment |

Something like this should work:

find /path -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' ;

-type d looks for only directories

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

Something like this should work:

find /path -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' ;

-type d looks for only directories

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

answered Feb 7 '14 at 15:45

Matthew Williams

4,02182036

add a comment |

-1

you can also try in this way to delete only all folders not files from any location in linux.



    #delete only all dir and don't touch files

    #!/bin/bash

    for dir in `ls -l | grep ^d | awk '{print $9}'`

    do

    echo "going to delete $dir " `rm -rf $dir`

    done

    ls

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

add a comment |

-1

you can also try in this way to delete only all folders not files from any location in linux.



    #delete only all dir and don't touch files

    #!/bin/bash

    for dir in `ls -l | grep ^d | awk '{print $9}'`

    do

    echo "going to delete $dir " `rm -rf $dir`

    done

    ls

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

add a comment |

-1

you can also try in this way to delete only all folders not files from any location in linux.



    #delete only all dir and don't touch files

    #!/bin/bash

    for dir in `ls -l | grep ^d | awk '{print $9}'`

    do

    echo "going to delete $dir " `rm -rf $dir`

    done

    ls

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

you can also try in this way to delete only all folders not files from any location in linux.



    #delete only all dir and don't touch files

    #!/bin/bash

    for dir in `ls -l | grep ^d | awk '{print $9}'`

    do

    echo "going to delete $dir " `rm -rf $dir`

    done

    ls

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

answered Dec 21 '18 at 2:09

linux.cnf

add a comment |

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