CODEWITHSUNDEEP
unixdirectoryrm
kopelkan
kopelkan

Reputation: 1195

How to delete only directories and leave files untouched

I have hundreds of directories and files in one directory.

What is the best way deleting only directories (no matter if the directories have anything in it or not, just delete them all)

Currently I use ls -1 -d */, and record them in a file, and do sed, and then run it. It rather long way. I'm looking for better way deleting only directories

Upvotes: 92

Views: 70586

Answers (8)

clarke
clarke

Reputation: 31

I have done this, by adding a way to preserve one folder. I execute the command in a subfolder for removing folders in the parent one. It doesn't work for directory names with spaces:

  • parent folder => CleanTheSystem

  • subfolder_to_be_preserved => Linux

  • file in the subfolder_to_be_preserved => OK_Mackay.txt

  • subfolder_to_delete => Windows

  • too_many_files => ***


 rm -r $(ls -1 -d ../*/ | grep -v Linux);

    And this works for folder names with spaces:

     find ../. -type d -name "* *" -execdir bash -c 'mv "$1" "${1// /_}"' _ {} \; 2>/dev/null;rm -r $(ls -1 -d ../*/ | grep -v Linux);

Warning!: Be careful. If you misspell Linux, everything will be erased.

Upvotes: 0

Nader Delyani
Nader Delyani

Reputation: 11

rm -R $(ls -1 -d */ | grep .. )

Upvotes: 1

demon101
demon101

Reputation: 564

find command only (it support file deletion)\

find /path -depth -type d -delete

-type d looks only for directories, then -depth makes sure to put child directories before the parent. -delete removing filtered files/folders

Upvotes: 0

Cas
Cas

Reputation: 6646

To delete all directories and subdirectories and leave only files in the working directory, I have found this concise command works for me:

rm -r */

It makes use of bash wildcard */ where star followed by slash will match only directories and subdirectories.

Upvotes: 268

Kuldeep Darmwal
Kuldeep Darmwal

Reputation: 185

Simple way :-

rm -rf `ls -d */`

Upvotes: 2

catalint
catalint

Reputation: 1955

find . -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d

then

find . -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d -exec rm -rf '{}' \;

To add an explanation:

find starts in the current directory due to . and stays within the current directory only with -maxdepth and -mindepth both set to 1. -type d tells find to only match on things that are directories.

find also has an -exec flag that can pass its results to another function, in this case rm. the '{}' \; is the way these results are passed. See this answer for a more complete explanation of what {} and \; do

Upvotes: 41

onteria_
onteria_

Reputation: 70497

First, run:

find /path -d -type d

to make sure the output looks sane, then:

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

-type d looks only for directories, then -d makes sure to put child directories before the parent.

Upvotes: 14

Mouse Food
Mouse Food

Reputation: 231

In one line:

rm -R `ls -1 -d */`

(backquotes)

Upvotes: -19

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