error removing file no such file or directory

filesystem delete

9,506

the name of the file must contain a non-printing character i.e. a character that is not printed even if is there.

you should try this:

ls -b <your file> | xargs rm

you should get the full name of that file by typing the first few letters then pressing tab

9,506

Talha Javaid

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Talha Javaid over 1 year

I am not being able to delete certain files with an error no such file or directory. A file on my desktop as well as a file in my movies folder is not being deleted.

I am 100% sure the problem isn't with the name of the file because I always use tab key to auto complete the name.
- Talha Javaid almost 9 years
  
  I've tried. Command returns the same error.
- kos almost 9 years
  
  Please post the exact command you're running and the exact output
- Bulrush almost 9 years
  
  Can you do rm Final*.xlsx? Does that work? I suspect the '+' signs are causing you trouble, which is why I only use letters, numbers, dash and underscore in a filename on every OS I use. Can you start up a GUI file manager and delete it that way?
- Talha Javaid almost 9 years
  
  no it didn't work
- Bulrush almost 9 years
  
  Do this: ls -l Final*.xlsx and post the results to your original message. We need to see the owner and permissions.
- kos almost 9 years
  
  While in ~/Desktop, type rm Final than hit TAB to use auto-completion to match the exact filename and report back. If this doesn't succeed I fear you might have a corrupted filesystem.
- Mark Kirby almost 9 years
  
  possible duplicate of Unable to delete file - no such file or directory
- Talha Javaid almost 9 years
  
  GUI desktop Gnome
Talha Javaid almost 9 years

I tried but rm returns the same error
Edward Torvalds almost 9 years

@TalhaJavaid remove all the files from desktop (except the one you want to delete) and run this cd ~/Desktop; \rm -i -- *