rmdir

Remove an empty directory

$ rmdir [path/to/directory]

$ rmdir [dir1] [dir2] [dir3]

$ rmdir -p [path/to/directory]

$ rmdir -v [path/to/directory]

$ rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty [path/to/directory]

$ rmdir -p [parent/child/grandchild]

rmdir [OPTION]... DIRECTORY...

rmdir removes empty directories. Unlike rm -r, it will not remove directories that contain files or subdirectories, providing a safety check against accidental data loss.
With the -p option, rmdir removes the specified directory and then attempts to remove each parent directory in the path, stopping when a non-empty directory is encountered or removal fails.
rmdir is useful in scripts where you want to clean up empty directories without risking removal of directories with content.

-p, --parents

Remove directory and its empty ancestor directories.

Print a message for each removed directory.

Ignore failures caused solely by non-empty directories.

Display help message.

Display version information.

rmdir only removes empty directories. For directories with content, use rm -r (with caution). The directory must be empty of all files and subdirectories, including hidden files (those starting with .). The -p option removes parent directories only if they become empty after child removal.

rmdir is part of GNU coreutils and has been a standard Unix command since the earliest versions of Unix. It follows the POSIX specification for directory removal. The separation between rmdir (empty directories only) and rm -r (recursive removal) is a deliberate safety feature in Unix design.

rm(1), mkdir(1), find(1)