rmtrash

rmtrash is a small utility that will move the file to macOS's Trash rather than obliterating the file (as rm does).

Click to see the preview

Install

Homebrew

brew install rmtrash

Mint

mint install tbxark/rmtrash

Manually

Download the binary and put it in /usr/local/bin.

Usage

Syntax

rmtrash [-f | --force] {[-i | --interactive[=always]] | [-I | --interactive=once] |
   [--interactive=never]} [--one-file-system | -x] [--no-preserve-root |
   --preserve-root] [-r | -R | --recursive] [-d | --dir] [-v | --verbose] 
   FILE...
rmtrash --help
rmtrash --version

Options

Options	Description
-f, --force	Ignore nonexistant files, and never prompt before removing.
-i	Prompt before every removal.
-I	Prompt once before removing more than three files, or when removing recursively. This option is less intrusive than -i, but still gives protection against most mistakes.
--interactive[**=**WHEN]	Prompt according to WHEN: never, once (-I), or always (-i). If WHEN is not specified, then never prompt.
--one-file-system, -x	When removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any directory that is on a file system different from that of the corresponding command line argument
--no-preserve-root	Do not treat "/" (the root directory) in any special way.
--preserve-root	Do not remove "/" (the root directory), which is the default behavior.
-r, -R, --recursive	Remove directories and their contents recursively.
-d, --dir	Remove empty directories. This option permits you to remove a directory without specifying -r/-R/--recursive, provided that the directory is empty. In other words, rmtrash -d is equivalent to using rmdir.
-v, --verbose	Verbose mode; explain at all times what is being done.
--help	Display a help message, and exit.
--version	Display version information, and exit.

Usage notes

If the -I/--interactive=once option is given, and there are more than three files or the -r/-R/--recursive options are specified, rm prompts before deleting anything. If the user does not respond yes/y/Y to the prompt, the entire command is aborted.

Removing directories

By default, rm does not remove directories. If the -r/-R/--recursive option is specified, however, rm removes any matching directories and their contents.

If the specified directory is empty, it may be removed with the -d/--dir option, instead.

Environment

• RMTRASH_INTERACTIVE_MODE If set, it will be used as the default value for the --interactive option.

Alias Recommended

Also, you can add the following aliases to your shell profile:

alias del="rmtrash"
alias trash="rmtrash"
alias rm="echo Use 'del', or the full path i.e. '/bin/rm'"

Known issues

• rm can't delete the current executable directory, but rmtrash can, but I don't think that's a bug, it's a feature.

License

rmtrash is released under the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.