Sometimes we have to delete files of specific format (common extensions, ends with ~, etc) which were spanned over a group of directories. To do so, we follow certain methods. Lets do it by an example. In my case, I've o create the temporary files, i.e., the ones ending with ~. Method 1 : Delete them manually Method 2 : Goto each such directory and run the following command rm *~ Method 3 : rm *~ rm */*~ rm */*/*~ rm */*/*/*~ First two methods need more time and to use third method, we must know the depth of recursion. Following method will solve our problem. Method Friendly : Run the following command from the parent directory from which you are deleting the files. find . -name '*~' -type f -delete This will delete all files ending with ~, from the current directory and also all its sub-directories.