Are you tired of often typing “dir” in Linux terminal only to remember the right command is “ls“?. In this comprehensive guide, we cover in detail the usage of ls command which in your gateway to interacting with with files and directories in a Linux system. We will use real-world examples that will empower you to:
- List, sort and filter files and directories more efficiently.
- Navigate Linux complex directory structures without struggle.
- Gain better insights into Linux file ownership and permissions.
- Elevate your skills to a Linux power user.
The ls command is used to list the contents of directories in Linux. There are several options used to customize the output from ls. Here are 30 most useful ls commands for beginners and seasoned Linux pro uses.
1. Basic ls Command
$ ls
archive1.tar.gz archive3.tar.gz archive5.tar.gz dir2 file1.txt file3.txt file5.txt image2.jpg image4.jpg script1.sh script3.sh script5.sh
archive2.tar.gz archive4.tar.gz dir1 dir3 file2.txt file4.txt image1.jpg image3.jpg image5.jpg script2.sh script4.shLists files and directories in the current directory.
2. List with Detailed Information -l
If you want to display detailed information about the files including permissions, owner, group, number of links, size, and modification date use -l option.
$ ls -l
total 92
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 565 Jul 20 19:26 archive1.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 336 Jul 20 19:26 archive2.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 669 Jul 20 19:26 archive3.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80 Jul 20 19:26 archive4.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 457 Jul 20 19:26 archive5.tar.gz
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 20 19:26 dir1
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 20 19:26 dir2
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 20 19:26 dir3
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 562 Jul 20 19:26 file1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 280 Jul 20 19:26 file2.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 809 Jul 20 19:26 file3.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 479 Jul 20 19:26 file4.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 169 Jul 20 19:26 file5.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 626 Jul 20 19:26 image1.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 461 Jul 20 19:26 image2.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 461 Jul 20 19:26 image3.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 841 Jul 20 19:26 image4.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 33 Jul 20 19:26 image5.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 835 Jul 20 19:26 script1.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 545 Jul 20 19:26 script2.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 409 Jul 20 19:26 script3.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 208 Jul 20 19:26 script4.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 943 Jul 20 19:26 script5.sh3. List All Files (Including Hidden) -a
By using -a command option you will see hidden files (those starting with a dot) as seen in the following example.
$ ls -a
. archive1.tar.gz archive3.tar.gz archive5.tar.gz dir2 file1.txt file3.txt file5.txt .hidden2.conf .hidden4.conf image1.jpg image3.jpg image5.jpg script2.sh script4.sh
.. archive2.tar.gz archive4.tar.gz dir1 dir3 file2.txt file4.txt .hidden1.conf .hidden3.conf .hidden5.conf image2.jpg image4.jpg script1.sh script3.sh script5.sh4. List with Human-Readable Sizes -h
If you want to show the file sizes in human-readable format (e.g., KB, MB), then use -h command option.
$ ls -lh ~/goharbor-prepare.tar
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 203M Jul 20 17:38 /root/goharbor-prepare.tar5. List Files by Modification Time -t
Sorts the files by modification time, with the newest showing first by using -t
$ ls -lht ~/
total 835M
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 19:27 linux-ls
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:44 myapp
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:10 myproject
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:05 django-app
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 203M Jul 20 17:38 goharbor-prepare.tar
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 16:51 harbor
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 00:02 quay
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 629M Jun 6 09:39 harbor-offline-installer-v2.11.0.tgz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12K Jun 6 09:39 harbor-online-installer-v2.11.0.tgz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.8M May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 65 May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz.sha2566. Reverse Order
To reverse the display order of the list, use -r command option:
$ ls -lhr ~/
total 835M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 65 May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz.sha256
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.8M May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 00:02 quay
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:10 myproject
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:44 myapp
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 19:27 linux-ls
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12K Jun 6 09:39 harbor-online-installer-v2.11.0.tgz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 629M Jun 6 09:39 harbor-offline-installer-v2.11.0.tgz
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 16:51 harbor
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 203M Jul 20 17:38 goharbor-prepare.tar
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:05 django-app7. List Files Recursively
Lists all files and directories recursively.
$ ls -R ~/
/root/quay:
config postgres storage
/root/quay/config:
config.yaml
/root/quay/postgres:
userdata8. List Only Directories
You can limit the output by only listing the directories in your current directory.
$ ls -d */
dir1/ dir2/ dir3/9. Long Listing of Specific Directory
Show detailed information for files in a specified directory by running the following commands.
ls -l /path/to/directory10. List Files with Wildcards
If you wish to list files matching a specific pattern (e.g., all .txt files), run:
$ ls *.txt
file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt file4.txt file5.txt
$ ls *.jpg
image1.jpg image2.jpg image3.jpg image4.jpg image5.jpg11. List with File Type Indicators
Appends a character to each entry to indicate the file type (/ for directories, * for executables).
ls -F12. List Files by Size
Sort files by size, with the largest first using the following commands.
ls -lS13. Classify Files by Type
This works similar to -F, classifies files by appending indicators.
ls --classify14. List Directory Tree
Get a tree view of the directory structure using the following commands.
ls -R | grep ":$"15. List with Inode Numbers
Get the inode number count for each file by using -i option.
ls -i16. List Files in Columns
Lists entries by column using -C commands.
ls -C17. List Files with Access Time
To sort and display files by the by last access time use -u
$ ls -ltu
total 92
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 21 22:15 dir3
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 21 22:15 dir2
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jul 21 22:15 dir1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 457 Jul 20 19:26 archive5.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 33 Jul 20 19:26 image5.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 943 Jul 20 19:26 script5.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 169 Jul 20 19:26 file5.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 80 Jul 20 19:26 archive4.tar.gz
...18. List Files with Change Time
Sort the output by and displays the last change time of file status information.
ls -lc19. List with Colors
Use the --color command option to enable colorized output for better readability.
ls --color20. List Only Names
Pass -1 to the ls command to list one file per line.
ls -121. List Files in Reverse by Size
You can also sort files by size, you will see the smallest first.
$ ls -lhSr ~/
total 835M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 65 May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz.sha256
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 00:02 quay
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:10 myproject
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:44 myapp
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Jul 20 19:27 linux-ls
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 20 16:51 harbor
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 20 18:05 django-app
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12K Jun 6 09:39 harbor-online-installer-v2.11.0.tgz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.8M May 15 17:19 starship-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 203M Jul 20 17:38 goharbor-prepare.tar
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 629M Jun 6 09:39 harbor-offline-installer-v2.11.0.tgz22. List Files in Reverse by Time
Let’s sort the files by modification time, and get the oldest as the first one.
ls -ltr23. List Files by Extension
Sort alphabetically by file extension
ls -X24. List Files with Context
See the security context for each file using --context
ls --context25. List with Quoting Styles
Get the output with quotes in the names of files.
ls -Q26. List Files in Human-Readable Format with SI Units
List using the SI units for file sizes (e.g., 1K = 1000).
ls -lh --si27. List Files in Reverse by Extension
If you wish to sort files by extension, in reverse order, run the commands below.
ls -Xr28. List Files and Show Only Directory Names
Displays only the directories in the current directory.
$ ls -d */
dir1/ dir2/ dir3/29. List Files in Reverse Alphabetical Order
To reverse the order of the list, showing files in reverse alphabetical order, use -r command option:
ls -r30. Combine Multiple Options
You can easily combine multiple options: example is to show all files, in long format, with human-readable sizes, and classifies file types.
ls -alhFBelow is a table summarizing the 30 ls command usage examples:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ls | Lists files and directories in the current directory. |
ls -l | Displays detailed information including permissions, number of links, owner, group, size, and modification date. |
ls -a | Includes hidden files (those starting with a dot). |
ls -lh | Shows file sizes in human-readable format (e.g., KB, MB). |
ls -lt | Sorts by modification time, newest first. |
ls -lr | Reverses the order of the list. |
ls -R | Lists all files and directories recursively. |
ls -d */ | Lists only directories in the current directory. |
ls -l /path/to/directory | Shows detailed information for files in a specified directory. |
ls *.txt | Lists files matching a pattern (e.g., all .txt files). |
ls -F | Appends a character to each entry to indicate the file type (/ for directories, * for executables). |
ls -lS | Sorts files by size, largest first. |
ls --classify | Same as -F, classifies files by appending indicators. |
| `ls -R | grep “:$”` |
ls -i | Displays the inode number for each file. |
ls -C | Lists files in columns. |
ls -lu | Sorts by and displays the last access time. |
ls -lc | Sorts by and displays the last change time of file status information. |
ls --color | Enables colorized output for better readability. |
ls -1 | Lists one file per line. |
ls -lSr | Sorts files by size, smallest first. |
ls -ltr | Sorts files by modification time, oldest first. |
ls -X | Sorts files by extension. |
ls --context | Displays security context for each file. |
ls -Q | Quotes the names of files. |
ls -lh --si | Uses SI units for file sizes (e.g., 1K = 1000). |
ls -Xr | Sorts files by extension, in reverse order. |
ls -d */ | Displays only the directories in the current directory. |
ls -r | Reverses the order of the list, showing files in reverse alphabetical order. |
ls -alhF | Combines multiple options: shows all files, in long format, with human-readable sizes, and classifies file types. |
Conclusion
In this article we’ve provided a comprehensive usage of the ls command with examples. By mastering the common lscommand options, you will start to navigate and manipulate the Linux filesystem easily.
