userdel

Linux · Users and permissions · reference only

What it does

Deletes a user account from the system. With -r it also removes the home directory and the mail spool.

Syntax

userdel [opciones] usuario

Options and parameters

• -r

  Also removes the user's home directory and mail spool.

• -f

  Forces removal even if the user is logged in; use with care.

• -R DIR

  Applies the changes inside the given root directory (chroot), useful for system images.

• -Z

  Also removes the user's SELinux mapping.

• -h

  Shows help and exits.

Usage examples

• sudo userdel ana

  Deletes the ana account but keeps her /home/ana directory.

• sudo userdel -r ana

  Deletes the account and its whole home directory.

• getent passwd ana

  Checks the account is gone: it prints nothing if the deletion worked.

• sudo userdel -f pruebas

  Forces the removal of an account even if it is in use.

Notes and common mistakes

• Without -r the user's files stay on disk and keep an orphan UID.
• A user with running processes cannot be deleted unless you use -f.
• On Debian and Ubuntu, deluser is a friendlier alternative.

Related commands

• addgroup
• adduser
• chgrp
• chmod
• chown
• delgroup