I know this is a common HOWTO for UNIX system administrators, but I do get this question on occasion. The question is the following: "how do you delete a file with spaces in its name?" Use quotes, "".
From experience, I have seen numerous people type in file name at the CLI, and then they are prompted with the predictable “No such file or directory” error message. Here are some ubiquitous examples for dealing with spaces in filenames.
Using no quotes, 3 separate files are created
# csh
# touch test file 1
# ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root other 0 Nov 16 23:17 1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root other 0 Nov 16 23:17 file
-rw-r--r-- 1 root other 0 Nov 16 23:17 test
Using quotes, 5 files are created with spaces as part of their unique filenames
# touch "test file 1"
# touch "test file 2"
# touch "test file 3"
# touch "test file 4"
# touch "test file 5"
# ls
test file 1 test file 2 test file 3 test file 4 test file 5
Attempt to list a specific multi-spaced filename without quotes
# ls test file 1
test: No such file or directory
file: No such file or directory
1: No such file or directory
Use quotes to list the file named test file 1
# ls "test file 1"
test file 1
Attempt to remove a specific multi-spaced filename without quotes
# rm test file 1
test: No such file or directory
file: No such file or directory
1: No such file or directory
Use quotes to remove the file named test file 1
# rm "test file 1"
# ls
test file 2 test file 3 test file 4 test file 5
Use quotes to rename the file named test file 2
# mv "test file 2" "test file 2a"
# ls
test file 2a test file 3 test file 4 test file 5
Use a “for loop” to rename these multi-spaced filenames. This example deletes the spaces and makes the filename contiguous.
# foreach i (*)
? mv "$i" `echo $i | tr -d 'space here '`
? end
# ls
testfile2a testfile3 testfile4 testfile5