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The ls command is a command-line utility for listing the contents of a directory or directories given to it via standard input. It writes results to standard output. The ls command supports showing a variety of information about files, sorting on a range of options and recursive listing.
To show the contents of a directory pass the directory name to the ls command. This will list the contents of the directory in alphabetical order. If your terminal supports colours you may see that file and directory listings are a different colour.
ls /home/george
bin code dotfiles Downloads go irc logs src
To show hidden files and folders pass the -a option to ls this will
ls -a /home/george
. .goobook .tmux.conf
.. .goobook_auth.json .urlview
.asoundrc .inputrc .vim
.asoundrc.asoundconf .install.sh .viminfo
.asoundrc.asoundconf.bak .irbrc .viminfo.tmp
...
To append an indicator of the file type to a directory listing pass the -F option.
ls -F
bin@ dotfiles/ file.txt irc/ src/
code/ Downloads/ go/ logs/
The following characters are appended based on this option:
/ indicates a directory@ indicates a symbolic link| indicates a FIFO= indicates a socket> indicates a doorTo show a long listing pass the -l option to the ls command. This will output detailed information on the directory listing.
ls -l
total 56
lrwxrwxrwx 1 george users 25 Sep 22 14:17 bin -> /home/george/dotfiles/bin
drwxr-xr-x 6 george users 4096 Oct 4 20:27 code
drwxr-xr-x 10 george users 4096 Oct 4 09:13 dotfiles
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Oct 4 11:31 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 george users 0 Oct 4 20:42 file.txt
drwxr-xr-x 5 george users 4096 Sep 25 08:30 go
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Sep 27 10:49 irc
drwxr-xr-x 2 george users 32768 Oct 4 09:15 logs
drwxr-xr-x 8 george users 4096 Oct 2 17:13 src
To sort a directory listing by name pass the -S option. In the following example this is combined with the -l option to show a long listing.
ls -lS
total 56
drwxr-xr-x 2 george users 32768 Oct 4 09:15 logs
drwxr-xr-x 6 george users 4096 Oct 4 20:27 code
drwxr-xr-x 10 george users 4096 Oct 4 09:13 dotfiles
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Oct 4 11:31 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 5 george users 4096 Sep 25 08:30 go
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Sep 27 10:49 irc
drwxr-xr-x 8 george users 4096 Oct 2 17:13 src
lrwxrwxrwx 1 george users 25 Sep 22 14:17 bin -> /home/george/dotfiles/bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 george users 0 Oct 4 20:42 file.txt
To sort by modification time pass the -t option. This causes the output to show the most recently modified files or folders at the top of the listing. In the following example this is combined with the -l option to show a long listing.
ls -lt
total 56
-rw-r--r-- 1 george users 0 Oct 4 20:42 file.txt
drwxr-xr-x 6 george users 4096 Oct 4 20:27 code
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Oct 4 11:31 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 george users 32768 Oct 4 09:15 logs
drwxr-xr-x 10 george users 4096 Oct 4 09:13 dotfiles
drwxr-xr-x 8 george users 4096 Oct 2 17:13 src
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Sep 27 10:49 irc
drwxr-xr-x 5 george users 4096 Sep 25 08:30 go
lrwxrwxrwx 1 george users 25 Sep 22 14:17 bin -> /home/george/dotfiles/bin
To show the last edited file in a directory the ls command can be combined with head
ls -t | head -n 1
To sort by access time pass the -u option. This causes the output to show the most recently accessed files of folders at the top of the listing. In the following example this is combined with the -l option to show a long listing.
ls -lu
total 56
lrwxrwxrwx 1 george users 25 Oct 4 09:01 bin -> /home/george/dotfiles/bin
drwxr-xr-x 6 george users 4096 Oct 4 20:23 code
drwxr-xr-x 10 george users 4096 Oct 4 11:21 dotfiles
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Oct 4 11:24 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 george users 0 Oct 4 20:42 file.txt
drwxr-xr-x 5 george users 4096 Sep 26 16:46 go
drwx------ 3 george users 4096 Oct 4 09:38 irc
drwxr-xr-x 2 george users 32768 Oct 4 09:15 logs
drwxr-xr-x 8 george users 4096 Oct 2 17:12 src
To show file size in human readable format pass the -h option. This causes the file size output to be shown in human readable format.
ls -lh
total 793M
-rw-r--r-- 1 george users 792M Oct 4 21:23 archlinux-2016.10.01-dual.iso
To display one file or folder per line pass the -1 option.
ls -1
bin
code
dotfiles
Downloads
file.txt
go
irc
logs
src
To display a recursive listing pass the -R option. This causes folders and files within a folder to be listed.
ls -R tree
tree:
file.txt folder1 folder2
tree/folder1:
file.txt
tree/folder2:
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