What Is Recursive Delete in Unix?

This option recursively removes directories and their contents in the argument list passed to the rm command. The user is normally prompted for removal of any write-protected files in the directories unless the -f option is used by the end user.

What is recursive deletion?

Recursive deletion has purpose only if the target of deletion is a folder or multiple folders. To delete files recursively means to delete the contents of the folder before deleting the folder itself. … Basically it means delete whatever is inside the folder I am deleting, so that I can delete the folder itself.

How do I delete a recursive directory in Unix?

To remove a directory that is not empty, use the rm command with the -r option for recursive deletion. Be very careful with this command, because using the rm -r command will delete not only everything in the named directory, but also everything in its subdirectories.