Deleting Files and Folders

Every once in a while, a file or directory has outlived its usefulness. It is time to be ruthless and do a little cleaning of the old file system.

As you've no doubt come to expect, there are several ways to get rid of an offending file or directory. The friendliest and safest method is to drag the file from Nautilus to the wastebasket icon over on the right side of your lower panel. For the novice, this is a safer method because items sent to the trash can be recovereduntil you take out the trash, that is. Until that time, you can click the trash can icon and (you guessed it) a Nautilus window appears, showing you the items you have sent to the trash. These items can then be moved (or copied) back to wherever you need them. To remove files from the trash permanently, right-click the trash can icon and click Empty the Wastebasket.

Note

After you empty the wastebasket, those files are gone forever.

I did say that there are other ways of deleting a file. From inside Nautilus, you can select a file or directory, right-click, and select Move to Wastebasket. There's also the command line if you need a break from all that clicking.