The find Command: A Guide for Linux Users

The find command is a powerful tool for searching and manipulating files in Linux. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced user, understanding how to use this command can greatly improve your productivity and efficiency when working with files in the command line.

When to use find:

• When you need to search for a specific file or group of files in a directory or its subdirectories
• When you need to perform an action on a specific file or group of files, such as deleting or renaming them
• When you need to search for files that match certain criteria, such as file type or modification time

Basic usage of find:

The basic syntax for using find is:

• directory is the starting point for the search. This can be a specific directory or . for the current directory.
• options specify how the search should be conducted. Some common options include -name for searching by file name, -type for searching by file type, and -mtime for searching by modification time.
• expression is the search criteria. For example, if searching for files with a specific file name, the expression would be the file name.

Examples:

1. Search for all files with the .txt extension in the current directory and its subdirectories:

2. Delete all files that have not been modified in the last 30 days in the /tmp directory:

3. Search for all directories in the /home directory:

See our list of 75 Linux commands you should know about.