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I am actually using Ubuntu 14.04LTS. I kept the larger files in a .(dot)folder in administrator directory and my total disk space is filled.

I previously got the information that I have low disk space. Even though the desktop is blank and each and every time when I login in administrator it will give blank desktop it doesn't show any folder or applications.

But I can easily login into guest session, so how can I delete those administrator files to make free space by using guest session or some thing else?

pa4080
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chandrakanth BASAR
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    No, you can't delete anything belonging to other users from a guest account. –  Nov 22 '17 at 18:21
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    I don't understand, do you mean /home/root directory? Why does somebody keeps there anything at all, and in so big amounts? This is odd. – Hi-Angel Nov 22 '17 at 18:25
  • yes sir (/home/root)sir actually i kept the all video files (study lectures) and used the total memory of that administrator.now i want to make free space because when i am going to login that administrator it will shows only desktop picture but not showing any files and applications also on the desktop.actually i tried to access the files from guest account but the /home/root files are not access then how should i make free space and how should i open/view my administrative files – chandrakanth BASAR Nov 22 '17 at 18:35
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    Okay, I don't quite understand why when you login as root, it shows a blank desktop, but you can run a terminal, then use cd /path/to/you/dir to enter the directory with files, then check if you see them with the command ls. To remove files use rm. See also why it is bad to login as root. And no, you can't remove files belonging to root through a usual user — what would be the point of having an account with lower privileges if you could? – Hi-Angel Nov 22 '17 at 18:54
  • If you have physical access to the system you can do whatever you desire by booting from live media. – Elder Geek Nov 25 '17 at 14:49

2 Answers2

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If the free space is the problem, you can pres Ctrl+Alt+F1 to open tty1. Then log-in with the administrator's account and remove the unnecessary files by the command line. In the article Guide to Unix/Commands/File System Utilities are listed the basics about the commands cd, ls, rm, rmdir, etc.

Alternatively you could try to install Midnight Commander (I hope there is a little free space left) that will display the file system in a more familiar way:

sudo apt install mc

Then run it by the command mc. The key F8 is the Delete key, but be careful! F5 is for Copy. Use Tab ↹ to switch between the left and the right side. F10 is for Quit. For more commands see the bottom line of the image below or press F1 for Help.

enter image description here

Please read also this answer. There are provided few useful hints for beginners. I think you are just experiencing the problem with the wrong ownership described there.

pa4080
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You don't see your .folder on the desktop because files whose name begins with a '.' are hidden. Login to the user who owns .folder, open a terminal and there do a ls ~/Desktop/.folder to see it and clean it up.

muclux
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  • in administrator account just i can capable to login but after that not only .files but also any other file it doesn't visible and no application is also opened(file manager) – chandrakanth BASAR Nov 22 '17 at 18:43
  • What exactly did you do to create this .folder? Did you use sudo to get privileged and created /home/root/Desktop/.folder? – muclux Nov 22 '17 at 18:54
  • Sir I delete the files by taking command me now how should I leave this mc – chandrakanth BASAR Nov 22 '17 at 19:19
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    So you have followed pa4080's suggestion and used mc. I see on the last line of his screenshot "10Quit" so the F10-key should make you leave mc. – muclux Nov 22 '17 at 19:30
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    Thank you so much sir now I can access the administrator account files and I have my important files with me because of you sir – chandrakanth BASAR Nov 22 '17 at 19:36