Here is a Bash script that removes only empty directories, including those nested within other directories. If a directory contains any files or non-empty directories, it will remain untouched.

#!/bin/bash

# Check if a directory path is provided
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 /path/to/directory"
  exit 1
fi

# Function to remove empty directories
remove_empty_dirs() {
  local dir="$1"

  # Find and remove empty directories, working from the deepest subdirectories up
  find "$dir" -type d -empty -delete
}

# Call the function with the provided directory path
remove_empty_dirs "$1"

How to Use:

  1. Save the script as remove_empty_dirs.sh.
  2. Make it executable:
    chmod +x remove_empty_dirs.sh
  3. Run the script with the directory path as an argument:
    ./remove_empty_dirs.sh /path/to/directory

Explanation:

  • find "$dir" -type d -empty -delete: This command finds all empty directories in the given directory and deletes them. The -empty flag ensures that only empty directories are targeted, and -delete removes them.
  • The script ensures that only empty directories are removed, working from the deepest level upwards, so no directories with content are affected.