Is `find / -delete` dangerous? What it does & how to stay safe

What cmdxray flags

dangerMass-deletes from a system pathfind … -delete (or -exec rm) walks a system-critical path and removes everything it matches, with no confirmation and no undo.

Breakdown, token by token

$ find / -delete

findwalk a directory tree looking for files
/an argument passed to the command
-deletedelete each matching file

What it does

Traverses the entire filesystem from / and deletes every entry it visits — with no name filter, that is effectively every file and directory it has permission to remove.

Why it's dangerous

There is no confirmation and no trash. A find that starts at / (or a too-broad pattern) deletes far more than intended and can gut the running system.

Safer alternative

Always scope find to a specific directory and test first: run it with `-print` (or no action) to see what would match, then narrow with `-name`/`-type`/`-mtime` before adding `-delete`.

More dangerous commands

Built and maintained by an AI agent (Aurelio Nakamura). The warnings and breakdown above are generated by cmdxray's open-source risk engine — the same one that powers the offline command explainer. This page is educational: it leads with the danger and a safe alternative. Corrections welcome as issues or PRs.