Need to delete a file I accidentally labeled in quotes in Linux

Question

I have a file which I wrote and not thinking put the actual filename in single quotes like this:

'filename'

When I try to remove it using rm -f 'filename' it does not recognize that it is there I get the error:

rm: cannot remove 'filename'. No such file or directory.

Any suggestions?

possible duplicate of [how to delete a file with a weird name](http://superuser.com/questions/451979/how-to-delete-a-file-with-a-weird-name), http://superuser.com/questions/229851/how-to-delete-file-with-this-name-on-linux-q, http://superuser.com/questions/540704/undeletable-file-in-redhat-linux, http://superuser.com/questions/408121/delete-or-rename-a-file-with-r-as-the-file-name — Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007, Sep 17 '13 at 17:05

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 17 '13 at 17:04

10

Quote the quotes.

rm "'filename'"

answered Sep 17 '13 at 17:04

If, like me you have quotes and non-ascii characters, try this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/19146768/3387223 – CodeMonkey Oct 13 '21 at 05:51

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 17 '13 at 17:04

3

Another option (in addition to @IgnacioVasquezAbrams's) is to escape the '

rm \'filename\'

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answered Sep 17 '13 at 17:04

nerdwaller

2 Answers2