Examples of Linux Find Command
o The Linux Find Command is one of the most important and frequently used
command command-line utility in Unix-like operating systems.
o Find command is used to search and locate the list of files and directories
based on conditions you specify for files that match the arguments.
o Find can be used in a variety of conditions like you can find files
by permissions, users, groups, file type, date, size, and other possible criteria.
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command/
Command Description
-iname Search without regard for text case.
-not Return only results that do not match the test case.
-type f Search for files.
-type d Search for directories.
Five parts from basic to advance usage of the find command.
o Part I: Basic Find Commands for Finding Files with Names
o Part II: Find Files Based on their Permissions
o Part III: Search Files Based On Owners and Groups
o Part IV: Find Files and Directories Based on Date and Time
o Part V: Find Files and Directories Based on Size
o Part VI: Find Multiple Filenames in Linux
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Part I: Basic Find Commands for Finding Files with Names
Find Files Using Name in Current Directory
Find all the files whose name is tecmint.txt in a current working directory.
# find . -name tecmint.txt
./tecmint.txt
Find Files Under Home Directory
Find all the files under /home directory with name tecmint.txt.
# find /home -name tecmint.txt
/home/tecmint.txt
Find Files Using Name and Ignoring Case
Find all the files whose name is tecmint.txt and contains both capital and small letters
in /home directory.
# find /home -iname tecmint.txt
./tecmint.txt
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./Tecmint.txt
Find Directories Using Name
Find all directories whose name is Tecmint in / directory.
# find / -type d -name Tecmint
/Tecmint
Find PHP Files Using Name
Find all php files whose name is tecmint.php in a current working directory.
# find . -type f -name tecmint.php
./tecmint.php
Find all PHP Files in Directory
Find all php files in a directory.
# find . -type f -name "*.php"
./tecmint.php
./login.php
./index.php
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Part II – Find Files Based on their Permissions
Find Files with 777 Permissions
Find all the files whose permissions are 777.
# find . -type f -perm 0777 -print
Find Files Without 777 Permissions
Find all the files without permission 777.
# find / -type f ! -perm 777
Find SGID Files with 644 Permissions
Find all the SGID bit files whose permissions set to 644.
# find / -perm 2644
Find Sticky Bit Files with 551 Permissions
Find all the Sticky Bit set files whose permission are 551.
# find / -perm 1551
# find / -perm /g=s
Find Read Only Files
Find all Read Only files.
# find / -perm /u=r
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Find Executable Files
Find all Executable files.
# find / -perm /a=x
Find Files with 777 Permissions and Chmod to 644
Find all 777 permission files and use chmod command to set permissions to 644.
# find / -type f -perm 0777 -print -exec chmod 644 {} \;
Find Directories with 777 Permissions and Chmod to 755
Find all 777 permission directories and use chmod command to set permissions
to 755.
# find / -type d -perm 777 -print -exec chmod 755 {} \;
Find and remove single File
To find a single file called tecmint.txt and remove it.
# find . -type f -name "tecmint.txt" -exec rm -f {} \;
Find and remove Multiple File
To find and remove multiple files such as .mp3 or .txt, then use.
# find . -type f -name "*.txt" -exec rm -f {} \;
OR
# find . -type f -name "*.mp3" -exec rm -f {} \;
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Find all Empty Files
To find all empty files under certain path.
# find /tmp -type f -empty
Find all Empty Directories
To file all empty directories under certain path.
# find /tmp -type d -empty
File all Hidden Files
To find all hidden files, use below command.
# find /tmp -type f -name ".*"
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Part III – Search Files Based On Owners and Groups
1. Find Single File Based on User
To find all or single file called tecmint.txt under / root directory of owner root.
# find / -user root -name tecmint.txt
type
user
2. Find all Files Based on User group
time [-mtime, -atime]
To find all files that belongs to user Tecmint under /home directory. size
# find /home -user tecmint
3. Find all Files Based on Group
To find all files that belongs to group Developer under /home directory.
# find /home -group developer
4. Find Particular Files of User
To find all .txt files of user Tecmint under /home directory.
# find /home -user tecmint -iname "*.txt"
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Part IV – Find Files and Directories Based on Date and Time
1.Find Last 50 Days Modified Files
To find all the files which are modified 50 days back.
# find / -mtime 50
2.Find Last 50 Days Accessed Files
To find all the files which are accessed 50 days back.
# find / -atime 50
3.Find Last 50-100 Days Modified Files
To find all the files which are modified more than 50 days back and less
than 100 days.
# find / -mtime +50 –mtime -100
4.Find Changed Files in Last 1 Hour
To find all the files which are changed in the last 1 hour.
# find / -cmin -60
5.Find Modified Files in Last 1 Hour
To find all the files which are modified in the last 1 hour.
# find / -mmin -60
6.Find Accessed Files in Last 1 Hour
To find all the files which are accessed in the last 1 hour.
# find / -amin -60
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Part V – Find Files and Directories Based on Size
Find 50MB Files
To find all 50MB files, use.
# find / -size 50M
Find Size between 50MB – 100MB
To find all the files which are greater than 50MB and less than 100MB.
# find / -size +50M -size -100M
Find and Delete 100MB Files
To find all 100MB files and delete them using one single command.
# find / -type f -size +100M -exec rm -f {} \;
Find Specific Files and Delete
Find all .mp3 files with more than 10MB and delete them using one single
command.
# find / -type f -name *.mp3 -size +10M -exec rm {} \;
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