17 Best Practical Examples of ls Command in Linux

Table of Contents
- Basic Syntax
- Examples of ls Command in Linux
- 1. Simple ls Command
- 2. Display files inside another directory
- 3. Display Hidden Files
- 4. Display Files in Long Format
- 5. Display All Files Recursively
- 6. Display All Files Sorted by Size
- 7. Display All Files Sorted by Size in Reverse Order
- 8. Display All Files Sorted by Modification Time
- 9. Display All Files Sorted by Modification Time in Reverse Order
- 10. Display Specific Directory Information
- 11. Display files in Human Readable Format
- 12. Display files without color
- 13. Display Files with Inode Numbers
- 14. Display Files with UID and GID
- 15. Display Files in Reverse Order
- 16. Display More Information about ls Command
- 17. Display Files Without Color in Human Readable Format
- Conclusion
17 Best Practical Examples of ls Command
The ls command in Linux is used to list files and directories information inside the filesystem. It is the most basic command in the Linux systems. The ls command can also display additional information about files. As it is the most basic command in Linux systems, It is available in all Linux distributions by default.
Basic Syntax
Ffolllowing is the basic sysntax of ls command:
ls [OPTIONS] [FILES]
Where,
OPTIONS: It specifies the options that additionally used with command.
FILES: File or directory name.
Examples of ls Command in Linux
Following are the examples of ls command in Linux
1. Simple ls Command
When you use ls command without any options, it will display all the non-hidden
contents in current directory
:
ls
The output should be:
2. Display files inside another directory
To display all the files inside another directory you should use ls command followed by the path of the directory.
In the following example files inside /etc
directory will be displayed:
ls /etc
The output should be:
3. Display Hidden Files
You can display all the files and directories inside the current directory including hidden files
by using option -a
option with ls command:
ls -a
The output should be:
In above output you can seen hidden file .updated is showed.
4. Display Files in Long Format
To display files in the current directory in long format -l
option is used with ls command. In the following example the all the files including hidden files will be listed in long format
ls -la
The output should be:
5. Display All Files Recursively
You can use -R
option with ls command to display all files in the directory recursively. It also includes subdirectory file listings.
ls -R
The output should be:
./unbound: icannbundle.pem root.key./UPower: UPower.conf./vbox:./vmware-tools: guestproxy-ssl.conf resume-vm-default suspend-vm-default poweroff-vm-default scripts vgauth poweron-vm-default statechange.subr vgauth.conf./vmware-tools/scripts: vmware
6. Display All Files Sorted by Size
To display all files sorted by file size -S
should be used with ls command additionally. It displays all the files sorted by size in the directory:
In the following example the command will display all files inside directory sorted by size
in long format
:
ls -lS
The output should be:
7. Display All Files Sorted by Size in Reverse Order
To display all files sorted by file size in reverse order -r
and -S
should be used with ls command additionally. It displays all the files sorted by size in the directory in reverse order:
In the following example the command will display all files inside directory sorted by size
in long format
:
ls -lSr
The output should be:
8. Display All Files Sorted by Modification Time
To display all files sorted by modification time -t
should be used with ls command additionally. It displays all the files sorted by modification time in the directory in decreasing order:
In the following example the command will display all files inside directory sorted by modification time
in long format
with hidden files
:
ls -alt
The output should be:
9. Display All Files Sorted by Modification Time in Reverse Order
To display all files sorted by modification time in reverse order -r
and -t
should be used with ls command additionally. It displays all the files sorted by modification time in the directory in increasing order:
In the following example the command will display all files inside directory sorted by modification time
in long format
with hidden files
:
ls -altr
The output should be:
10. Display Specific Directory Information
You can display specific directory information by using the ls command with -d
option. In the following example, it will display information of the /etc
directory in the long format:
ls -ld /etc
The output should be:
11. Display files in Human Readable Format
To display files in human readable format -h
option should be used with ls command. In the following example, the command will display all files in human readable long format:
ls -lh
The output should be:
12. Display files without color
You can display files without color by using --color
option with ls command like given below:
ls --color=no
The output should be:
13. Display Files with Inode Numbers
To display files with inode numbers -i
option should be used with ls command. In the following example, the command will display all files with inode number:
ls -i
The output should be:
3932186 abrt 3932247 modprobe.d 3932770 adjtime 3932248 modules-load.d 3932771 aliases 3932831 motd 3932187 alsa 3933189 motd.d 3932188 alternatives 3933860 mtab 3932772 anacrontab 3932832 mtools.conf 3934267 ant.d 3932249 multipath 3932773 appstream.conf 3932833 my.cnf 3932774 asound.conf 3932250 my.cnf.d 3932775 at.deny 3932834 nanorc 3932776 atmsigd.conf 3932251 ndctl
14. Display Files with UID and GID
To display files with UID and GID -i
option should be used with ls command. In the following example, the command will display all files with UID and GID:
ls -n
The output should be:
total 2140 drwxr-xr-x. 3 0 0 4096 Feb 5 21:37 abrt -rw-r--r--. 1 0 0 46 Apr 17 11:14 adjtime -rw-r--r--. 1 0 0 1518 Jul 13 2018 aliases drwxr-xr-x. 3 0 0 4096 Jan 7 20:33 alsa drwxr-xr-x. 2 0 0 4096 May 26 01:55 alternatives -rw-r--r--. 1 0 0 541 Mar 18 16:26 anacrontab drwxr-xr-x. 2 0 0 4096 Apr 20 09:56 ant.d -rw-r--r--. 1 0 0 769 Aug 4 2018 appstream.conf
15. Display Files in Reverse Order
To display files in reverse order -r
option should be used with ls command. In the following example, the command will display all files in reverse order:
ls -r
The output should be:
16. Display More Information about ls Command
To display more information about ls command --help
option should be used with ls command:
ls --help
The output should be:
17. Display Files Without Color in Human Readable Format
You can display files without color in human readable format by using --color
and -h
option with ls command like given below:
ls -h --color=no
The output should be:
Conclusion
You have successfully learned 17 Best Practical Examples of ls Command in Linux. If you have any queries please don’t forget to comment out.
LATEST POSTS
-
How to Install Laravel PHP Framework With Nginx on CentOS 8
-
How to Add Swap Space on CentOS 8
-
How to Install DataGrip on CentOS 7
-
How to Install VirtualBox on Debian 9
-
How to Install Eclipse IDE on Debian 9
-
How to Install and Use Docker on CentOS 7
-
How to install LAMP stack on Ubuntu 18.04
-
How to Install PhpStorm on Ubuntu 18.04
-
How to install Audacity on Ubuntu 18.04
-
How to Install Go on Ubuntu 18.04
-
How to install Pip on Debian 9
-
How to Reboot Linux System with Command Line