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How do I delete a file named -p in bash? Trying rm "-p" complains that -p is not a valid argument.

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You write "delete a file" yet the title says "delete a folder". Please make the question consistent so that it gets properly indexed. –  Sam Hocevar Mar 20 '11 at 3:22
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up vote 21 down vote accepted

Most GNU tools support -- to terminate the options.

rm -- -p
rm ./-p
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Not just GNU tools, but all POSIX-compliant tools, and in practice all non-antique unix tools. –  Gilles Sep 8 '11 at 21:58
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The NOTE section in the man page for rm has something to say exactly about this. Apart from what Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams has mentioned in their answer, one other way of removing such files, as mentioned in the man page, is by using an absolute path reference, such as: rm /home/user/-p.

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