Is the command `sudo rm /Desktop/filename` safe?

Is this safe to use?

sudo rm /Desktop/FILENAME

The reason for wanting to use sudo is I can't see the file.

I accidentally typed in sudo rm /Desktop/index.html. It didn't find it but could something still have been deleted?

No. It most emphatically is not safe. Here's the thing: You can delete files you own without sudo. If you don't own the file, and you are here asking this question, then you need to ask yourself: "Do I need to delete this file?"

Overuse and consequent misuse of sudo is one of the banes of Ubuntu.

The slash at the start of /Desktop would have caused it to look for a Desktop folder in the root of the filesystem, which almost certainly does not exist, therefore nothing would have been deleted.

In future, keep in mind that both sudo and rm have the ability to be dangerous. You should never need sudo just to manipulate your own files, and if you do need sudo to delete a file, it's generally a file you shouldn't be deleting unless you know what you're doing (there are exceptions, for example it's safe to modify/delete whatever you want in /var/www or /srv, etc if you run a server, or /usr/local if you compile and install your own software, but that's more advanced than general use).

As for rm, well it doesn't move things into a "Trash" bin for you, so in that sense it's not all that safe, in that it's easy to irrecoverably lose something.

It sounds most likely you were looking in the wrong place, right? index.html isn't a hidden file (hidden files begin with a dot) so you should be able to see it in your file browser.

Never use sudo rm and an absolute url or wildcard if you can help it.

One day you'll have a typo and hate yourself.

Use ~/Desktop as the path as /Desktop does not exist, the former is the path to your desktop. If it is a single file using sudo rm ~/Desktop/filename is absolutely fine. Just make ABSOLUTELY SURE you want to delete the file, if it is in your desktop folder and has sudo permissions, ask yourself if it needs to be deleted and if it does, whether you need to make a copy.