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Quick links About
ls
Syntax
Examples
Related commands
Linux / Unix main page
About ls
Lists the contents of a
directory.
Syntax
ls [-a] [-A] [-b] [-c]
[-C] [-d] [-f] [-F] [-g] [-i] [-l] [-L] [-m] [-o] [-p] [-q] [-r] [-R]
[-s] [-t] [-u] [-x] [pathnames]
| -a |
Shows you all files, even files that are hidden (these files begin with a
dot.) |
| -A |
List
all files including the hidden files. However, does not display
the working directory (.) or the parent directory (..). |
| -b |
Force
printing of non-printable characters to be in octal \ddd
notation. |
| -c |
Use time of last modification of the i-node (file created, mode changed, and so forth) for
sorting (-t) or printing (-l or -n). |
| -C |
Multi-column output with entries
sorted down the columns. Generally this is the default option. |
| -d |
If an argument is a directory it
only lists its name not its contents. |
| -f |
Force each argument to be interpreted as a
directory and list the name found in each slot. This option turns off -l, -t, -s, and -r, and turns on -a; the order is the order in which
entries appear in the directory. |
| -F |
Mark directories with a trailing slash (/), doors with a trailing greater-than sign (>),
executable files with a trailing asterisk (*), FIFOs with a trailing vertical bar (|), symbolic links with a trailing at-sign (@), and AF_Unix address family sockets with a trailing equals sign (=). |
| -g |
Same as -l except the owner is not
printed. |
| -i |
For each file, print the i-node number in the first column of the report. |
| -l |
Shows you huge amounts of information (permissions, owners, size, and when
last modified.) |
| -L |
If an argument is a symbolic link, list the file or directory the link references rather than the link itself. |
| -m |
Stream output format; files are listed across the
page, separated by commas. |
| -n |
The same as -l, except that the owner's UID and group's GID numbers are printed, rather than the associated character strings. |
| -o |
The same as -l, except that the group is not printed. |
| -p |
Displays a
slash ( / ) in front of all directories. |
| -q |
Force printing of non-printable characters in file names as the character question mark (?). |
| -r |
Reverses the order of how the files are displayed. |
| -R |
Includes the contents of subdirectories. |
| -s |
Give size in blocks, including indirect blocks, for each entry. |
| -t |
Shows you the files in modification time. |
| -u |
Use time of last access instead of last
modification for sorting (with the -t option) or printing (with the -l option). |
| -x |
Displays files in columns. |
| -1 |
Print one entry per line of output. |
| pathnames |
File or directory to list. |
Examples
ls -l
In the above example this command would list each
of the files in the current directory and the files permissions,
the size of the file, date of the last modification, and the file
name or directory. Below is additional information about each of
the fields this command lists.
| Permissions |
Directories |
Group |
Size |
Date |
Directory or file |
| drwx------ |
2 |
users |
4096 |
Nov 2 19:51 |
mail/ |
| drwxr-s--- |
35 |
www |
32768 |
Jan 20 22:39 |
public_html/ |
| -rw------- |
1 |
users |
3 |
Nov 25 02:58 |
test.txt |
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Below is a brief description of each of the above
categories shown when using the ls -l command.
Permissions - The permissions of the directory
or file.
Directories - The amount of links or
directories within the directory. The default amount of directories
is going to always be 2 because of the . and .. directories.
Group - The group assigned to the file or
directory
Size - Size of the file or directory.
Date - Date of last modification.
Directory of file - The name of the file or
file.
ls ~
List the contents of your home directory by adding
a tilde after the ls command.
ls /
List the contents of your root
directory.
ls ../
List the contents of the parent directory.
ls */
List the contents of all sub directories.
ls -d */
Only list the directories in the current directory.
Related commands
chmod
df
diff
du
file
stat
tree
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