---
title: "The clean command"
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---


<div class="mdbook-guide">
<h1 id="the-clean-command"><a class="header" href="#the-clean-command">The clean command</a></h1>
<p>The clean command is used to delete the generated book and any other build
artifacts.</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">mdbook clean&#10;</code></pre>
<h4 id="specify-a-directory"><a class="header" href="#specify-a-directory">Specify a directory</a></h4>
<p>The <code>clean</code> command can take a directory as an argument to use as the book’s
root instead of the current working directory.</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">mdbook clean path/to/book&#10;</code></pre>
<h4 id="--dest-dir"><a class="header" href="#--dest-dir"><code>--dest-dir</code></a></h4>
<p>The <code>--dest-dir</code> (<code>-d</code>) option allows you to override the book’s output
directory, which will be deleted by this command. Relative paths are interpreted
relative to the current directory. If not specified it will default to the
value of the <code>build.build-dir</code> key in <code>book.toml</code>, or to <code>./book</code>.</p>
<pre><code class="language-bash">mdbook clean --dest-dir=path/to/book&#10;</code></pre>
<p><code>path/to/book</code> could be absolute or relative.</p>
</div>