How can I delete a file using the Vim editor

Question

I have a file testfile.xml that I want to open with Vim and delete in command mode

to delete content : https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/161821/how-can-i-delete-all-lines-in-a-file-using-vi — Archemar, Mar 16 '18 at 15:33
vi is not a tool to delete file, rm and find are as well as backup tools. — Archemar, Mar 16 '18 at 15:34
This question is a better fit for the Vi and Vim site https://vi.stackexchange.com/ — Helio, Mar 16 '18 at 16:44

score 14 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 17 '19 at 16:04

Another way to interactively delete files is to use

:E

or

:Ex

for ex(ploring) the file directory. There you have an interactive window that will guide you. Once you select the entry you want deleted, use

Shift-D

confirm with

y  
return

This is what it looks like at the top in my window in explorer mode:

" ============================================================================
" Netrw Directory Listing                                        (netrw v140)
"   C:\Users\cbkrd\Desktop
"   Sorted by      name
"   Sort sequence: [\/]$,\.h$,\.c$,\.cpp$,*,\.o$,\.obj$,\.info$,\.swp$,\.bak$,\~$
"   Quick Help: <F1>:help  -:go up dir  D:delete  R:rename  s:sort-by  x:exec
" ============================================================================

:E resulted in E464: Ambiguous use of user-defined command, but :Ex worked fine. — Serge Stroobandt, May 22 '19 at 00:15

Yash Pandey · Answer 2 · 2018-03-17T10:18:16.700

There are many ways:

Using the intercative shell in vim

When in the editor -
```
:sh
rm textfile.xml
```
Using Bang(!)

As DopeGhoti suggested -
```
:!rm textfile.xml
```

From this link.

Add this to your ~/.vimrc

command! -complete=file -nargs=1 Remove :echo 'Remove: '.'<f-args>'.' '.(delete(<f-args>) == 0 ? 'SUCCEEDED' : 'FAILED')

Then,in vim,

:Remove testfile.xml

Again from the same link in #3

Use this command:
```
:call delete(expand('%')) | bdelete!
```

score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 16 '22 at 12:42

8

To delete the file, execute :!rm %. % expands to the file's name. Vim doesn't automatically delete the buffer, but you can manually do so with :bd.

To verify that the file has been deleted, execute !ls.

edited Jun 16 '22 at 12:42

glibg10b

351
4
14

answered Nov 19 '19 at 06:49

Justin

81
1
1

score 4 · Answer 4 · 2020-01-16T11:32:46.573

As Yash states: there are many ways. But the shortest one,

:echo delete(@%)

only appears hidden, only at the end of Yash's link:

I don't understand why you would use all those commands and functions.

Why not :echo delete(filename)? Or, if you want to delete file and wipeout buffer, which I guess happens very rarely, you may write :echo delete(@%), and if successfull -- :bw!.

With echo (instead of call) you see the result directly, 0 or -1.

:!rm % by @Justin is probably the same, but there is a screen switch and the "no longer available" message -- with delete() it is smoother.

And I don't understand what rm is filtering here...

The whole idea makes mostly sense if you want to sort out a bunch of files:

vim $(find -size -100c -type f)

If you want to delete/keep some of these small files. you can :n[ext] through them and delete them directly. The :echo delete(@%) should maybe only be mapped temporarily, because it is dangerous. I lost a help file, and renamed another, while experimenting with "%".

It is also cross-platform. – tejasvi88 Jan 22 '22 at 10:35 — tejasvi88, Jan 22 '22 at 10:35

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered May 03 '22 at 13:34

mv is safer than rm:

com!  -nargs=? -complete=file T call Trash_by_viM(<f-args>)
            " 0 or 1 arguments are allowed
fun! Trash_by_viM(...) abort
    if a:0 > 0   "  有传参
    " if a:1   之前用这行, 不行, 因为if 'abc' 等于if FALSE,  if '1abc' 才等于if TRUE
        exe '! mv'  a:1  '~/.t/'..a:1..'__moved_by_vim'
        echo "moved"  a:1
    el
        write
        exe '! mv' expand("%:p")  '~/.t/'..expand("%:p:t")..'__moved_by_vim'
        echo "moved" expand("%:p")
        bwipeout!
    en
endf

How can I delete a file using the Vim editor

5 Answers5