find Command Guide

Basic Usage

The find command searches for files in a directory hierarchy. The basic syntax is straightforward: specify where to search and what to look for.

bash

find /path/to/search -name "filename"

If you omit the path, find will search in the current directory.

bash

# Search in current directory
find . -name "*.txt"

Searching by Name

The most common use case is searching for files by name. You can use wildcards and case-insensitive searches.

Exact name match

bash

find /home -name "config.json"

Case-insensitive search (-iname)

bash

find . -iname "readme.md"

Wildcard patterns

bash

# Find all JavaScript files
find ./src -name "*.js"

# Find files starting with "test"
find . -name "test*"

# Find files with specific pattern
find . -name "*config*.json"

Tip

Always quote wildcard patterns to prevent shell expansion. Use single or double quotes around patterns like "*.txt".

Searching by Type

You can filter results to show only files, directories, or other types.

bash

# Find only files
find . -type f -name "*.log"

# Find only directories
find . -type d -name "node_modules"

# Find symbolic links
find . -type l

Common Type Options

-type f	Regular file
-type d	Directory
-type l	Symbolic link

Searching by Size

Find files based on their size using the -size option.

bash

# Find files larger than 100MB
find . -size +100M

# Find files smaller than 1KB
find . -size -1k

# Find files exactly 50 bytes
find . -size 50c

# Find empty files
find . -type f -empty

Size Units

c	Bytes
k	Kilobytes
M	Megabytes
G	Gigabytes

Searching by Time

Find files based on when they were modified, accessed, or created.

bash

# Modified in the last 7 days
find . -mtime -7

# Modified more than 30 days ago
find . -mtime +30

# Modified in the last 60 minutes
find . -mmin -60

# Accessed in the last 24 hours
find . -atime -1

Info

-mtime uses days, while -mmin uses minutes. The same applies to -atime/-amin (access time) and -ctime/-cmin (change time).

Executing Commands

One of find's most powerful features is the ability to execute commands on the files it finds.

Using -exec

bash

# Delete all .tmp files
find . -name "*.tmp" -exec rm {} \;

# Change permissions on all shell scripts
find . -name "*.sh" -exec chmod +x {} \;

# View contents of all found files
find . -name "*.log" -exec cat {} \;

Using -exec with confirmation

bash

# Ask before deleting each file
find . -name "*.bak" -exec rm -i {} \;

# Or use -ok for built-in confirmation
find . -name "*.bak" -ok rm {} \;

Warning

Be careful with -exec rm. Always test your find command without the -exec part first to see what files would be affected.

Combining Conditions

Use logical operators to combine multiple search conditions.

bash

# AND (implicit) - both conditions must match
find . -name "*.js" -size +10k

# OR - either condition matches
find . -name "*.js" -o -name "*.ts"

# NOT - exclude matches
find . -type f ! -name "*.log"

# Complex combinations with parentheses
find . \( -name "*.js" -o -name "*.ts" \) -mtime -7

Practical Examples

Clean up old log files

bash

find /var/log -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

Find large files in home directory

bash

find ~ -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \;

Find and list all Git repositories

bash

find ~ -type d -name ".git" 2>/dev/null

Find files with specific permissions

bash

# Find world-writable files
find /var -perm -002 -type f

# Find setuid files
find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null

Search and replace in multiple files

bash

find . -name "*.txt" -exec sed -i 's/old/new/g' {} \;

Performance Tips

Here are some tips to make your find commands faster and more efficient.

bash

# Limit search depth
find . -maxdepth 2 -name "*.js"

# Skip certain directories
find . -name "node_modules" -prune -o -name "*.js" -print

# Use -quit to stop after first match
find . -name "config.json" -quit

Tip

For simple filename searches, consider using locate command which uses a pre-built database and is much faster. Install it with apt install mlocate on Debian/Ubuntu.

Summary

The find command is incredibly powerful for locating files based on various criteria. Key takeaways:

Use -name for name patterns, -iname for case-insensitive
Filter by type with -type f (files) or -type d (directories)
Search by size with -size and time with -mtime
Execute commands on results with -exec
Combine conditions with -a (AND), -o (OR), and ! (NOT)

Quick Reference

Basic

By Name

By Size

By Time

By Type

Actions

Downloadable Image Preview

Basic Usage

Searching by Name

Exact name match

Case-insensitive search (-iname)

Wildcard patterns

Searching by Type

Common Type Options

Searching by Size

Size Units

Searching by Time

Executing Commands

Using -exec

Using -exec with confirmation

Combining Conditions

Practical Examples

Clean up old log files

Find large files in home directory

Find and list all Git repositories

Find files with specific permissions

Search and replace in multiple files

Performance Tips

Summary

Official Documentation

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