ls command on Linux (list files) [Basic Guide]

The ls command is undoubtedly one of the most used. It basically serves to list files and directory content.

Your most common options are:

• -a, –all Show all files, including hidden files that begin with “.”
• -A, –almost-all Shows almost all files, except the entries “.” and “..”
• -b, –escape Show files with escape, for non-graphic characters
• -c Show and sort by the date the files were modified

-C Show by columns

• -d Show only -1 directories
• ; Shows a column with file names only
• -h Shows file sizes in human format
• -l Show a long list of the files
• -m Lists the files separated by a comma
• -S ; Sort by size
• -R List subdirectories recursively
• -x List in rows instead of columns
• –color=auto Differentiate file types by color

Examples:

$ ls -m /boot/ *138* /boot/config-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64, /boot/initramfs-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.img, /boot/symvers-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.gz, /boot/System.Map-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.gz, /boot/System.Map-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.gz, /boot/System.Map-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.gz, /boot/System.Map-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64.gz, /boot/System.Map-4.14.138-amzn2.x86_64, /boot/vmlinuz-4.14.138-114.102.amzn2.x86_64

$ ls -Sl ~/
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ec2-user ec2-user 221427 Dec 7 2018 mysqltuner.pl
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ec2-user ec2-user 35487 May 21 2017 vfsync-2017-05-21.tar.gz

On Linux, files that start with “.” are hidden and are only shown with the -a option of ls. The file “.” is a pointer to the current directory. The file “..” is a pointer to the directory above (or earlier) All directories contain the files “.” and “..”

File and directory names are case-sensitive

The following ls options are very useful for programmers:

Use the “-lt” option to show the files in order of modification:

$ ls -lt 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16172 May 6 22:19 List.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 
6279 jan 20 13:47 SubForm.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 
21195 jan 20 13:30 CapForm.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16050 jan 20 13:30 CapList.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16050 jan 20 13:30 -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16050 jan 20 13:30 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16050 jan 20 13:30 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 16050 jan 20 13:30 -rw-r--r-- root 7937 jan 20 13:30 Form.php

-rw-r–r– 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 List.php

The “-lS” option is useful for showing files in order of size:

$ ls -lS 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 21195 jan 20 13:30 CapForm.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 
16172 May 6 22:19 List.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 
16050 Jan 20 13:30 CapList.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 List.php -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 -rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 
-rw-r--r-- 1 ec2-user root 12598 jan 20 13:30 -rw-r--r-- 1 ec 7937 Jan 20 13:30 Form.php

-rw-r–r– 1 ec2-user root 6279 jan 20 13:47 SubForm.php

The following command is also useful for making an inventory of the files. In this case, the file names are sent to the text editor Vi:

$ ls -XR | vim -

Another text editor can be used, such as nano:

$ ls -XR | nano -

Learn much more about Linux in our online course. You can register here. If you already have an account, or want to create one, just log in or create your user here.

Did you like it?

Share