What if I delete ~/.bashrc file of a user?

Solution 1:

If you delete a user's ~/.bashrc nothing special happens. Bash will still start and use the system-wide /etc/bash.bashrc.

Just like any user root may or may not have a ~/.bashrc, and if it exists you can delete if you have write permission on /root/.

Solution 2:

1. You cant remove root user .bashrc file unless you are root user.

2. In case if .bashrc file deleted for your account then you can restore it with

    cp /etc/skel/.bashrc ~/.bashrc
   

But this is not your old .bashrc file. It's a new .bashrc file with default configuration.

Update: Curiosity and over Curiosity

There is no problem as menioned in above answer if you have deleted .bashrc file. Your system will be using system wide /etc/bash.bashrc file and run as usually.

But If System wide /etc/bash.bashrc file is using by your system then no aliases , no auto tab completition , no colors.Nothing will work for you.

In case of over curiosity if you have deleted system wide /etc/bash.bashrc then also no problem, but the only feature that misses here is if you type some command which is not avaliable we used to get command-not-found but after deleting system wide bashrc you wont get even that.

That's all I know for now.

Hope it helps.

Solution 3:

If you delete a user's .bashrc and they put work into it, they will get really mad at you!!! Just back it up / move it aside by using mv ~user/.bashrc ~user/.bashrc.orig

The "what will happen" has been addressed in other questions, the user will still be able to log in, using the system default profile, assuming you're in Ubuntu that's covered here: How do I restore .bashrc to its default?

That question is possible a duplicate of this one that also provides the info (as do other answers here) about /etc/skel How to restore .bashrc file?