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How to remove a file with special characters in its name (space, semicolon, backslash)
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Question:
I have a file with a semicolon in its name and cannot delete it. How can I delete a file with strange characters in its name (space, semicolon, backslash)?Answer:
In Unix you can string commands together with semicolons, so Unix will interpret a semicolon in a filename as a separator. You can try the following:- putting the filename in quotes
- put a \ in front of each of the special characters
- if the filename starts with a special character e.g. '-', put a ./ in front of it
Finally you can try using an FTP client, ftp into that directory and issue an MDELETE command (short: mde). It will offer to delete all files - say 'no' in all cases except for the chosen one. That way you do not have to specify the file name.
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# for files with ; rm "file;name" # to remove '-filename' rm "./-filename"; | ||
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