How do you list all files in a directory?

If you work with Linux, you probably need to browse through directories and files often. Whether you want to check the contents, permissions, sizes, or dates of your files, you can use some simple commands to list them in various ways. In this article, we will show you how to list all files in a directory using the terminal.

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1 The ls command

The most basic and common command to list files in a directory is ls. You can type ls followed by the name of the directory you want to list, or just ls to list the current directory. For example, ls /home will list all the files and subdirectories in the /home directory. The output of ls will show the file names in columns, sorted alphabetically by default.

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Jinal Shah

jinal shah
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The way to list all files in a directory depends on your operating system. Here's a quick rundown: Windows: Open a command prompt and type dir followed by the directory path. For example, dir C:\Users\username\Documents will list all files in your Documents folder. You can use the /a switch to show hidden files as well. Mac/Linux: Use the ls command. By default, it lists all files in the current directory. To include hidden files, add the -a flag. To see more details about the files (like size and permissions), use the -l flag. For example, ls -al will list all files in the current directory with detailed information.

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2 The -l option

If you want to see more details about the files, such as their permissions, owners, groups, sizes, and modification dates, you can use the -l option with ls. This will display the files in a long format, one per line. For example, ls -l /home will show something like this:

drwxr-xr-x 2 alice alice 4096 Sep 10 10:15 alice

drwxr-xr-x 3 bob bob 4096 Sep 10 10:16 bob

drwxr-xr-x 4 charlie charlie 4096 Sep 10 10:17 charlie

The first column shows the file type and permissions, the second and third columns show the owner and group, the fourth column shows the size in bytes, the fifth column shows the modification date and time, and the sixth column shows the file name.

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3 The -a option

Sometimes you may want to list all the files in a directory, including the hidden ones. Hidden files are those that start with a dot, such as .bashrc or .config. By default, ls does not show these files, but you can use the -a option to include them. For example, ls -a /home will show something like this:

. .. .hidden alice bob charlie

The dot and the double dot represent the current directory and the parent directory, respectively. The .hidden file is a hidden file that may contain some configuration or data.

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Imran Ahmed Khan

System Support Specialist | Google Cloud Architecture Coach | Google IT Support Professional Certified | Passionate about solving tech challenges
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ls -a /path/to/directory In Windows, you can use the `dir` command to list files in a directory: dir /path/to/directory Replace `/path/to/directory` with the path to the directory you want to list the files in.

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4 The -h option

If you want to see the file sizes in a more human-readable format, such as kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes, you can use the -h option with ls. This will display the sizes with appropriate units, instead of bytes. For example, ls -lh /home will show something like this:

drwxr-xr-x 2 alice alice 4.0K Sep 10 10:15 alice

drwxr-xr-x 3 bob bob 4.0K Sep 10 10:16 bob

drwxr-xr-x 4 charlie charlie 4.0K Sep 10 10:17 charlie

The fourth column shows the sizes with K for kilobytes, M for megabytes, G for gigabytes, and so on.

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5 The -S option

If you want to sort the files by size, instead of alphabetically, you can use the -S option with ls. This will display the files in descending order of size, from the largest to the smallest. For example, ls -lS /home will show something like this:

drwxr-xr-x 4 charlie charlie 4096 Sep 10 10:17 charlie

drwxr-xr-x 3 bob bob 4096 Sep 10 10:16 bob

drwxr-xr-x 2 alice alice 4096 Sep 10 10:15 alice

The charlie directory is the largest, followed by bob and alice.

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6 The -t option

If you want to sort the files by modification time, instead of alphabetically, you can use the -t option with ls. This will display the files in descending order of time, from the most recently modified to the oldest. For example, ls -lt /home will show something like this:

drwxr-xr-x 4 charlie charlie 4096 Sep 10 10:17 charlie

drwxr-xr-x 3 bob bob 4096 Sep 10 10:16 bob

drwxr-xr-x 2 alice alice 4096 Sep 10 10:15 alice

The charlie directory is the most recently modified, followed by bob and alice.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Manuel José M.

Técnico de Telecomunicaciones e Informática en Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir
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Linux, hay dos comandos “find” y “ls”: 1. Find: es un comando muy potente para hacer búsquedas de archivos. 2. Ls: te muestra archivos y directorios. Añadimos algunos parámetros no incluidos en este artículo. a. ls –lh: muestra el tamaño exacto en bytes (b), kilobytes (kb), megabytes (MB), etc. b. ls –r: muestra los archivos y directorios en orden inverso. c. ls –ltr: muestra los últimos archivos y directorios modificados en orden. d. ls -laS: muestra los archivos por tamaño en orden descendente. Puede profundizar más en la ayuda de estos comandos.

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How do you list all files in a directory?

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2

3

4

5

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1 The ls command

2 The -l option

3 The -a option

4 The -h option

5 The -S option

6 The -t option

7 Here’s what else to consider

Operating Systems

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How do you list all files in a directory?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 The ls command

2 The -l option

3 The -a option

4 The -h option

5 The -S option

6 The -t option

7 Here’s what else to consider

Operating Systems

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