trash

Send a file to the trash

$ trash [path/to/file]

$ trash-list

$ trash-restore

$ trash-empty

$ trash-empty 10

$ trash-rm "*.o"

$ trash-rm /[path/to/file_or_directory]

trash [options] file...
trash-list
trash-restore
trash-empty [days]
trash-rm pattern

trash-cli is a command-line interface to the FreeDesktop.org Trash specification, providing a safer alternative to rm by moving files to a recoverable trash location instead of permanent deletion. The trash follows XDG standards and integrates with desktop file managers.
Files can be restored to their original location using trash-restore, which presents an interactive menu of trashed items. The trash-empty command permanently deletes items from the trash, with optional age filtering.

trash files

Move files to trash (alias: trash-put)

List files in trash with original path and deletion date

Interactively restore files from trash

Empty trash, optionally only files older than days

Remove files from trash matching pattern or original path

Remove empty directories

Ignore nonexistent files

Explain what is being done

Use specified trash directory

Trashing files on external drives creates a .Trash directory on that drive. Disk space is not freed until trash is emptied. Files trashed from command line may not appear in desktop trash depending on file manager implementation.

Developed by Andrea Francia as a command-line implementation of the FreeDesktop.org Trash specification. Provides Unix philosophy-compliant access to desktop trash functionality, enabling safe deletion practices in terminal workflows.

rm(1), gio-trash(1), trashy(1)