find

🔍 find Command in Linux

The find command is used to search for files and directories within a directory hierarchy. Below is a reference for common options and use cases.

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🧰 Common Options

Option	Description
-name	Search for files by name
-iname	Search for files by name (case-insensitive)
-type	Search by file type (e.g., file, directory, symlink)
-size	Search for files by size
-mtime	Search for files by modification time
-perm	Search for files by permissions
-exec	Execute commands on found files
-maxdepth	Limit the depth of the search
-prune	Exclude directories from the search

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📋 Basic Syntax

find [path] [expression]

• path: Directory or path to search (use . for current directory).

• expression: Search criteria, like file name, type, permissions, etc.

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📝 Common Commands

Search by File Name

find /path/to/search -name "filename.txt"
find . -name "*.txt"  # Search for all .txt files in current directory

Case-Insensitive Search

find . -iname "*.txt"  # Search .txt files without case sensitivity

Search by File Type

• Regular files:

  find . -type f  # Finds only files

• Directories:

  find . -type d  # Finds only directories

• Symbolic links:

  find . -type l  # Finds only symlinks

Search by Size

• Files larger than 1GB:

  find . -size +1G

• Files smaller than 100KB:

  find . -size -100k

Search by Modification Time

• Modified within the last 7 days:

  find . -mtime -7

• Modified more than 30 days ago:

  find . -mtime +30

Search by Permissions

• Files with specific permissions (e.g., 755):

  find . -perm 755

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📤 Execute Commands on Found Files

Run Command on Found Files

• Example: Delete all .log files

  find . -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \;

• Example: Print the list of files

  find . -type f -exec ls -l {} \;

Use + for Efficient Execution

• This will group the found files and run the command only once, rather than for each file.

  find . -name "*.txt" -exec cat {} +

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⚙️ Combining Multiple Conditions

Find files that are .txt or .md

find . \( -name "*.txt" -o -name "*.md" \)

Find files with size greater than 10MB and modified in the last 7 days

find . -size +10M -mtime -7

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💡 Additional Tips

• find can be slow if searching large directories. Combine with -prune to skip certain directories.

• Use -maxdepth to limit the search depth.

  find . -maxdepth 2 -name "*.log"

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