Do you want an easy way to move undesired files to a trashcan using a Terminal, so you can restore them later if you want? trash-cli is your choice.

Table of Contents

Installation

Just install trash-cli package with a package manager such as apt or pacman. Trashed files are located in ~/.local/share/Trash by default, but you can change it with the --trash-dir=<TRASHDIR> parameter.

Utilities

trash, trash-put

Use trash <file> or trash-put file to move a file to the trashcan.

trash-list

List all the contents of the trashcan. It displays the original file location. You can filter the output with grep.

$ trash-list
2022-08-06 12:47:10 /home/ricardo/Downloads/sistemasOperativos/Metasploitable.vmx
2022-08-15 17:11:06 /home/ricardo/Documents/linux-guides/networking/red_hat_enterprise_linux-7-networking_guide-en-us.pdf
2022-08-11 17:01:54 /home/ricardo/Pictures/Webcam/2022-08-11-170019.jpg

trash-restore

Run trash-restore to restore a file from the trashcan. It will display all trashcan files and you can select which one you want to restore (typing the corresponding number). You can also optionally include a relative or full path of the original location of the file.

$ trash-restore
   0 2022-08-06 12:47:08 /home/ricardo/Downloads/sistemasOperativos/Metasploitable.nvram
   1 2022-08-06 12:47:09 /home/ricardo/Downloads/sistemasOperativos/Metasploitable.vmsd
[trimmed output]
  18 2022-08-21 13:07:28 /home/ricardo/Downloads/sistemasOperativos/slax-64bit-15.0.0.iso
  19 2022-08-21 17:21:06 /home/ricardo/Documents/tests/d3.html
What file to restore [0..19]: 18

$ trash-restore tests/scan4all.csv
   0 2022-08-06 16:28:47 /home/ricardo/Documents/tests/scan4all.csv
What file to restore [0..0]: 0

trash-rm

Remove files from the trashcan (it’s like running rm, so be careful). Include the file name, a pattern or a full path.

$ trash-rm d3.html

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