LINUX COMMAND ATLAS · COMMAND GUIDE

Linux find command

Search a directory tree by name, type, age, and other conditions.

find manual

Syntax

Command form

find [STARTING-POINT...] [EXPRESSION]

8 options

Option	What it does
`-name PATTERN`	Match a filename pattern (case-sensitive).
`-iname PATTERN`	Match a filename pattern without case sensitivity.
`-type TYPE`	Match a type such as f (file), d (directory) or l (symlink).
`-maxdepth N`	Descend at most N directory levels.
`-mtime N`	Match by modification age in 24-hour periods.
`-size SIZE`	Match files by size, such as +100M or -1k.
`-exec COMMAND {} \;`	Run a command for each match; {} represents the path.
`-print0`	Print paths separated by NUL for safe pipelines.

3 examples

Search a directory tree by name, type, age, and other conditions.

find . -type f -name "*.log"

Find regular files with a .conf name below the current directory.

find . -type f -name '*.conf'

Find files modified within the last seven 24-hour periods.

find /var/log -type f -mtime -7

GNU find evaluates expressions from left to right. Quote wildcard patterns so the shell does not expand them first; take care with -delete and -exec.