How to Use the Find Command in Linux

Introduction

The find command in Linux is a powerful and versatile utility for searching or locating files and directories in a file system. The command uses file attributes like name, size, time, and permissions to perform the search. You can also combine find with other commands to perform complex searches.

This article explains how to use the find command in Linux to effectively manage and search files.

The find Command Syntax

The following is a basic find command syntax:

find [path] [expression]

In the above find command:

• [path]: Specifies the directory to search. It defaults to the working directory . if you don't specify a path.
• [expression]: Combines options, tests, and actions to filter and manipulate the search results such as the filename, file type, size, and modification time.

Set Up Example Directories and Files

Follow the steps below to set up example directories and files to test the find command.

1. Switch to your user's home directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ cd

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create vultr.txt, Vultr.txt, and VULTR.txt sample files.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ touch vultr.txt Vultr.txt VULTR.txt

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Create dir, dir1 directories. Then create a sub_dir sub-directory under dir1.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ mkdir -p dir dir1/sub_dir

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Create a new file.txt text file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ touch file.txt

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Change the file.txt file permissions mode to 755.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ chmod 755 file.txt

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

Check out how to use the tar command in Linux for quick file archiving and unzipping.

Most Common find Command Options

The find command supports the following options for refining search results.

Use Practical find Command in Linux with Examples

Follow the steps below to test the find command and search the example files you created earlier.

1. Find a file named vultr.txt in your working directory and subdirectories.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "vultr.txt"

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

2. Perform a case-insensitive search for all files that match vultr.txt.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -iname "vultr.txt"

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

3. Find all directories in the working directory using the -type d option.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -type d

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

4. Find files by size. For example, files larger than 100MB.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -size +100M

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

5. Find files by modification time. For example, find files modified in the last 7 days.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -mtime -7

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

6. Find all files by access time. For example, find all files accessed in the last 7 days.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -atime -7

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

7. Find all files a specific user owns, such as vultr_user.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -user vultr_user

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

8. Find all files owned by a specific group such as vultr_user.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -group vultr_user

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

9. Find all files with 755 permissions.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -perm 755

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The 755 permission means the owner can read, write, and execute the file, while others can only read and execute it.

   Output:

   

Use Advanced find Command Options

Follow the steps below to perform advanced find command searches.

1. Execute a command on each matching file using the -exec option.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "vultr.txt" -exec ls -l {} \;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all files named vultr.txt and runs the ls -l command on each file to list them in a long format. {} is a placeholder for the working filename, and the \; specifies the end of the command to execute.

   Output:

   

2. Delete all files named vultr.txt.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "vultr.txt" -delete

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Output:

   

3. Find all .txt files and copy them to another directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "*.txt" -exec cp {} /path/to/directory/ \;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all .txt files and copies them to the /path/to/directory/ directory. The file name replaces {} during execution. Replace /path/to/directory with your actual path.

   

4. Find all .txt files and move them to another directory.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "*.txt" -exec mv {} /path/to/directory/ \;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all .txt files and moves them to the /path/to/directory/ directory. The filename replaces {} during execution. Replace /path/to/directory with your actual path.

   Output:

   

5. Find all .txt files a specific user owns, such as vultr_user and modified in the last 7 days.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "*.txt" -user vultr_user -mtime -7

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command searches for all .txt files owned by the vultr_user and modified within the last 7 days. It combines the -name, -user, and -mtime options to create a more specific search.

   Output:

   

Run the Interactive find Command in Linux with Examples

Follow the steps below to perform interactive searches using the find command.

1. Find all files named Vultr.txt and list them with detailed information.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "Vultr.txt" -exec ls -l {} \;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all files named Vultr.txt and uses ls -l to display detailed information about each file, such as permissions, owner, size, and modification date.

   Output:

   

2. Combine the find command with wc to locate all files named Vultr.txt and count the number of lines.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ find . -name "Vultr.txt" | wc -l

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all files named Vultr.txt and uses the pipe (|) option to output the results to the wc -l command, which counts the number of matching lines.

   Output:

   

3. Find all files with 644 permissions and change them to 600.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo find . -perm 644 -exec chmod 600 {} \;

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command finds all files with 644 permissions and changes the permissions mode to 600 using the chmod command. The {} option represents the filename, while \; marks the end of the command.

   

Conclusion

You have used the find command in Linux with practical examples to efficiently search for files and directories. The find command performs searches based on a specific criteria and runs specific actions on the matched results to streamline your file system workflow.