How to Find Files and Directories with the Linux find Command

The find command searches the filesystem for files and directories that match conditions you give it. The classic form is find /path -name "pattern". It is the most flexible way to locate files, because it can filter by name, type, size and modification time — and then run a command on every result.

Find by name

Search a starting directory with -name. The pattern can include wildcards, so *.conf matches every file ending in .conf.

$ find /etc -name *.conf

$ find . -name report.txt

Find directories only with -type

Use -type to filter by file type: f for regular files, d for directories, l for symbolic links. This is how you find every empty folder or all log files in a tree.

$ find /home -type d -name .git

Find by size and age

Conditions combine naturally. Find large files with -size (use +100M for larger than) or old files with -mtime (use +30 for older than 30 days).

$ find /var -size +100M

$ find . -mtime +30 -name *.tmp

Ignore case with -iname

Filesystem names are case-sensitive. Use -iname when you are not sure about the case, so Report.TXT matches a search for report.txt.

$ find . -iname readme*

Run a command on results with -exec

To act on every match, use -exec followed by the command and a literal {} for the file. This deletes every .bak file in the tree:

$ find . -name *.bak -exec rm {} \;

Test carefully — there is no undo. The find reference page documents all tests and actions.